Workforce

About: Workforce is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 32140 publications have been published within this topic receiving 449850 citations. The topic is also known as: labour force & labor force.

Amazon Mechanical Turk and the commodification of labour

Abstract: Crowd employment platforms enable firms to source labour and expertise by leveraging Internet technology. Rather than offshoring jobs to low-cost geographies, functions once performed by internal employees can be outsourced to an undefined pool of digital labour using a virtual network. This enables firms to shift costs and offload risk as they access a flexible, scalable workforce that sits outside the traditional boundaries of labour laws and regulations. The micro-tasks of ‘clickwork’ are tedious, repetitive and poorly paid, with remuneration often well below minimum wage. This article will present an analysis of one of the most popular crowdsourcing sites—Mechanical Turk—to illuminate how Amazon's platform enables an array of companies to access digital labour at low cost and without any of the associated social protection or moral obligation.

Non-pecuniary Advantages Versus Pecuniary Disadvantages; Job Satisfaction Among Male And Female Academics In Scottish Universities

Abstract: This paper considers job satisfaction in the academic labour market drawing upon a particularly detailed data set of 900 academics from five traditional Scottish Universities Recent studies have revealed that in the labour force as a whole women generally express themselves as more satisfied with their jobs than men Our results show that reports of overall job satisfaction do not vary widely by gender This result is explained through the nature of our dataset, limited as it is to a highly educated workforce, in which female workers are likely to have job expectations comparable to their male counterparts Ordered probit analysis is used to analyse the determinants of an academic’s overall satisfaction at work as well as satisfaction with promotion prospects, job security and salary Comparison salary is found to be an important influence on academics’ overall job satisfaction although evidence suggests that academics place a lower emphasis on pecuniary relative to non pecuniary aspects of work than other sectors of the workforce

Happy Together? How Using Nonstandard Workers Affects Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Among Standard Employees

Abstract: We examined how a blended workforce (one with “standard” and “nonstandard” workers in the same jobs) affected exit, “voice,” and loyalty among standard employees. We found that workforce blending worsened relations between managers and employees, decreased standard employees' loyalty, and increased their interest both in leaving their organizations and in exercising voice through unionization. However, these effects were contingent on whether the nonstandard workers were temporary or contract and on the salary and responsibilities of the standard employees.

Factors Affecting Volunteerism among Older Adults

Abstract: This study examines whether employment status has an effect on a person's decision to volunteer and the number of hours volunteered. The data are from the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are used to determine the rate of volunteering in relation to employment status because fewer people remain in the workforce among the older population. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between respondents who did or did not volunteer within the past 12 months. A regression analysis suggested that part-time work, age, education, importance of religion, and health status are significantly related to volunteer hours. Although only a small number of respondents are currently working, the number of volunteer hours contributed is higher in comparison to past studies.

Critical Skills of IS Professionals: A Model for Curriculum Development

Abstract: Introduction Revolutionary changes are occurring across the United States and throughout the world in information systems technology. "The number of workers in the computer and software industries has almost tripled in the past decade." (Freeman and Aspray, 1999. p. 35.) According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for the period 2000-2010, of the 10 fastest growing occupations, computer-related occupations occupy eight of the top ten positions: software applications engineers, support specialists, systems software engineers, network and systems administrators, network systems and data communications analysts, desktop publishers, database administrators, and systems analysts. (BLS, Table 3b). Computer and data processing services is projected as the industry with the fastest wage and salary employment growth (BLS, Table 3a). Every sector of the American economy employs information systems workers in every geographic region of the country. This projected growth in information systems related occupations is reflected in the need for well-educated IS professionals. Currently, the demand for trained professionals far exceeds qualified applicants. The State of Illinois Citizens Agenda (1999) specifically calls for an increase in the number of graduates with skills and knowledge needed to meet new or emerging occupational demand. The State of Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) Workforce Issues Paper (1999) calls for the number of baccalaureate computer and information science graduates from public universities to be doubled by 2006. Information Technology Association of America (2000) reports that "... employers will create a demand in this country for roughly 1.6 million IT workers this year. With demand for appropriately skilled people far exceeding supply, half of these positions--843,328--will likely go unfilled. In a total U.S. IT workforce of 10 million, that shortfall means one job in every dozen will be vacant." (Information Technology Association of America, [paragraph]1, 2000). These circumstances create an atmosphere whereby Information Systems programs need to be reevaluated and changed to meet the demand. Educators have the overwhelming responsibility of designing a curriculum that prepares future IS professionals for this dynamic field. Researchers have struggled with the issue of implementing curriculum models in various ways. Kim, Shim, and Yoon (1999) asked IS practitioners and educators to rate the importance of key IS issues. They found that practitioners perceive managerial and organizational issues as more important than educators do. They also indicate that educators consider emerging issues such as e-commerce, more important than practitioners do. They recommended that educators and practitioners should have a shared vision of key IS issues and collaborate on curriculum development. Lightfoot (1999) describes the dilemma of IS curriculum design as a problem of balance between the fundamentals of IS and the current "fad" applications. He suggests that students and businesses (employers) have short-term perspectives, while educators have a long-term perspective; legislators (public) are somewhere in between. He recommends modifying curriculum to satisfy the goals of the stakeholders. Srinivasan, Guan, and Wright (1999) describe a process of developing a new curriculum working with corporate partners. They also suggest using the corporate partners as "clinical": faculty to help teach the courses. Maier, Clark, and Remington (1998) reviewed the content of job advertisements over a 15-year period to explore the changes in the MIS job market and found a growing diversity in the MIS job market. Hingorani and Sankar (1995) surveyed perceptions of graduates' skills and compared the results with skills required in industry. They found that students were aware of the needs of industry. They also made specific recommendations for their specific program. The foundation of the curricula revision process is to review the literature related to expected workplace skills and knowledge for IS professionals. …