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.

Recent developments in public sector labor markets

Abstract: This chapter reviews recent developments in research on public sector labor markets. Public sector labor markets have two important characteristics which account for the interest in their operation. First, public sector labor markets are large -- in most developed countries the public sector workforce accounts for over 15% of total employment. Second, public sector labor markets are different from private sector labor markets. Most importantly, politicians or bureaucrats may have objectives which differ from those of the owners of private sector firms; and the political system can allow scope for achieving those objectives where a market system would not. The introductory sections of the chapter present a simple conceptual framework for thinking about the operation of public sector labor markets, and background information on a range of key characteristics of public sector labor markets such as union structure and the institutional environment for wage bargaining. The main sections summarize a variety of research relating to earnings and employment outcomes in public sector labor markets. First, studies which compare average earnings outcomes of public sector and private sector employees in a range of countries are reviewed. Second, studies of the determinants of earnings of local government employees in the United States are described. Third, various information on the earnings structure and distribution of earnings in the public sector and private sector is presented. Fourth, studies of the level and composition of public sector employment are summarized. A concluding section presents an overview of the main findings and themes from research on public sector labor markets, and suggests topics for future research.

Job stress and job satisfaction: home care workers in a consumer-directed model of care.

Abstract: The home care workforce is comprised of 600,000–800,000 workers nationally who provide personal assistance services for the disabled of all ages. Aging of the baby boom generation and high rates of women's employment portend an increased demand for, but diminished supply of, traditional caregivers, making recruitment and retention of workers a critical long-term care issue (Dawson and Surpin 2000; Stone and Weiner 2001; Montgomery et al. 2005;). Job satisfaction, fostered by the intrinsic rewards of helping others, predicts retention among direct care workers (Denton et al. 2007). Intrinsic rewards, however, are often accompanied by physical and emotional demands of providing care and by inadequate extrinsic rewards (Benjamin and Matthias 2004; Stacey 2005; Geiger-Brown et al. 2007;). The rewards and stressors of the dyadic care relationship, individually experienced by workers, are shaped by long-term care policies. Insufficient authorized hours of care, for example, may force workers to choose between providing less than optimal care or working unpaid overtime hours, creating stress in the care relationship. Financial strain and health status, considered personal stressors in some models (Ejaz et al. 2008), are influenced by long-term care wage and benefit policies (Howes 2008). Home care workers straddle the informal arena of the home and formal employment (Folbre 2001). Research into their job stressors and support has been sparse compared to research in institutional settings. Theoretical frameworks developed for the nursing home industry (Eaton 2001) have limited applicability to care provided in the home (Kemper 2007). The stress process model, created for unpaid family caregivers (Aneshensel et al. 1995), is likewise limited in its application to paid home care workers. We adapt the Job Demand Control/Support (JDC/S) model as our conceptual framework to examine three dimensions of job-related stress—job demands, control, and support (Karasek 1979; Johnson and Hall 1988;). We conceptualize demands from a multilevel perspective—dyadic care interactions set within home care policies that, together, influence job satisfaction. The dyadic care relationship encompasses the physical and emotional interaction between workers and consumers and the demands and rewards of that interaction. Policies frame the setting within which interactions occur and include wages, benefits, and hours of authorized care that may create schedule, financial, and health stressors for workers. Control can likewise be conceptualized at two levels—decision latitude over daily job tasks and, at a macro level, a collective voice in policy decisions and job security. Support for workers comes from family and friends, and it may include consumers; by contrast, coworkers and supervisors provide support in traditional employment structures. Control and support may exert direct positive effects on job satisfaction or may attenuate the impact of job demands. Home care policies originate in the larger sociopolitical and macroeconomic arena as demonstrated in the conceptual model in Figure 1. Cost-cutting and privatization of home care services has been linked to worker dissatisfaction, stress, and turnover (Denton et al. 2007). Policies that allowed for unionization led to higher wages and health benefits, increasing satisfaction and retention (Howes 2004). We examine the degree to which job demands, control, and support predict job satisfaction, and identify policies that could enhance job satisfaction, improving worker retention and quality care. Figure 1 Conceptual Model—Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political Factors That Shape Home Care Work

The Evolution of U.K. Self‐Employment: A Study of Government Policy and the Role of the Macroeconomy

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a time series analysis exploring the fundamental determinants of the substantial rise in U.K. self-employment over the period 1972–92. The key findings are that the self-employed/wage-employed income differential has a high and positive effect upon the proportion of the workforce in self-employment, supporting alternative wage theories of labour market status, as does housing wealth, supporting credit-rationing theories. Perhaps the most interesting feature concerns the relationship between unemployment and self-employment. On this we find that it is the duration structure of unemployment that matters, not simply the stock of unemployed people. This evidence may imply that self-employment is a last resort for certain individuals marginalized in the employed sector and facing lengthy spells of unemployment.

American Society of Clinical Oncology Position Statement: Strategies for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations.

Abstract: ASCO is committed to addressing the needs of sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations as a diverse group at risk for receiving disparate care and having suboptimal experiences, including discrimination, throughout the cancer care continuum. This position statement outlines five areas of recommendations to address the needs of both SGM populations affected by cancer and members of the oncology workforce who identify as SGM: (1) patient education and support; (2) workforce development and diversity; (3) quality improvement strategies; (4) policy solutions; and (5) research strategies. In making these recommendations, the Society calls for increased outreach and educational support for SGM patients; increased SGM cultural competency training for providers; improvement of quality-of-care metrics that include sexual orientation and gender information variables; and increased data collection to inform future work addressing the needs of SGM communities.