DOCUMENT RESUME ED 363 702 CE 064 904 AUTHOR Imel, Susan TITLE The New Dislocated Worker. Trends and Issues Alerts. INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Columbus, Ohio. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 93 CONTRACT RR93002001 NOTE 4p. PUB TYPE Information Analyses ERIC Clearinghouse Products Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) (071) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Adult Education; Annotated Bibliographies; Career Education; *Dislocated Workers; Educational Needs; *Employment Patterns; Job Search Methods; *Managerial Occupations; *Role of Education; Vocational Education; *White Collar Occupations ABSTRACT In the past, worker displacement resulting from structural changes in the economy remained confined to industrial occupations such as manufacturing. The recent trends toward corporate restructuring, global competition, and military downsizing have created new groups of dislocated workers, including upper and middle management and military personnel. Among the trends associated with white-collar worker displacement are the following: emergence of entrepreneurship as an alternative to corporate work, emergence of support groups to assist with job search, reexamination of traditional job search strategies, manifestation of differences in the ways males and females cope with job loss, disproportionate unemployment among older workers, and reassessment of careers. Adult, career, and vocational educators can respond to worker displacement in a number of ways, including the following: providing entrepreneurship training and ongoing support for individuals starting small businesses, offering classes in job-search strategies, and providing career counseling services to help individuals prepare for careers that may include involuntary job loss. (This trend and issues summary includes an annotated bibliography of 18 print resources and 7 resource organizations that can be consulted for additional information about the new displaced workers.) (MN) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** The New Dislocated Worker Trends and Issues Alerts Susan Imel u S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Othce 01 Educattonal Reserch end ImPtdert,Pnt EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES iNFORMATION. CENTER (MCI document hes Deen reptOdueed as 11:n.s reCetned U0n toe Ders0,, 0, 0,0a^,za1.0,, Onpfnat.ng .t 0.4.001 changes have been ,,,,ade IC tmproue reprOduCtton clusItt, optntOnS Staled o trns dou Pools 01 ment 00 not necessaroy represent pdtcal OERI postt.on 0, 00I,Cy ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education Center on Education and Training for Employment College of Education The Ohio State University 1900 Kenny Road Columbus, OH 43210-1090 2 ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education ALERT S TRENDS AND ISSUES by Susan Insel 1993 The New Dislocated Worker In the recent past, structural changes in the economy caused Reassessment of careers. Because of the changes in the worker displacement, primarily in industrial occupations such economy affecting those jobs once considered "safe" from as manufacturing. Toiiay, however, corporate restructuring, layoffs, many ersons are reassessing their careers and global competition, and military downsizing are displacing no longer t of staying with one company for life. new groups of workers in white-collar occupations, including Even employed wi te-collar workers may be planning for upper and middle management and military personnel. job changes (Burton and Wedemeyer 1991; Daoust 1990). The recession that began in 1989 caused millions of layoffs, affecting for the first time large numbers of white-collar Adult, career, and vocational educators can respond to managers and employees; 65% of the nawly unemployed worker displacement in a number of ways: were managers, professionals, and their clerical workers (Fox 1992; l'vfand-ell 1990). In 1991, for example, it was Forming groups to support individuals undertaking job estimated that corporate cutbacks were announced at about searches 2,600 per day (Applegate 1992). Although the recession is Providing entrepreneurship training and ongoing support officially over, layoffs are Fortune 500 occurring. still for those starting their own businesses companies, which have abolished 4.3 million jobs since 1980, Offering classes in developing job-search strategies continue to announce cutbacks, and the elimination of suitable for the "new' economy defense-industry jobs another cause career million will Providing 1.4 counseling that services enable displacements (Stern 1993): individuals to prepare for careers that may include involuntary job loss Trends associated with white-collar worker displacement of resources can be consulted for 'anclude the following: The following list additional information about the new displaced workers. The emergence of entrepreneurship as an alternative to corporate work. After failing to find.suitable, com.parable positions in corporations: many laid-off executives are Print Resources their own businesses. starting Unfortunately, the transition to entrepreneurship status is not always easy Addison, J. T., and Portugal, P. "Advance Notice and (Applegate 1992; Nussbaum 1992). Unemployment: New Evidence from the 1988 Displaced Worker Survey." Industrial and Labor Relations Review The emergence of support groups to assist with the job 45, no. 4 (July 1992): 645-664. search process. Many laid-off white-collar workers are choosing to manage their own job searches, seeking and Reviews literature on the impact of advance notice on paying for professional }Kip only when needed. Groups Concludes the results are postdisplacement joblessness. such as the Five O'clock Club, Forty Plus, Operation mix,..1 but suggests that longer written notice may moi e than ABLE, and AARP Works aye providing support and double the proportion of white-collar workers who move assistance in managing the job searches of displaced directly to new employment. white-collar workers (Burton and Wedemeyer 1991; Stern 1993). Applegate, J. "From Executive to Entrepreneur." Working Woman 17, no. 7 (July 1992): 33-34. Reexamination of traditional job search strategies. Some of the conventional wisdom associated with job hunting is Describes the trend of entrepreneurship among dislocated being challenged. For example, the old adage that 'it's executives, concluding that transition is not easy because of easier to get a iob when you have a job" is less valid and job radical changes status, in life-style, duties. simply. because "the negative connotations of being "in Enumerates a series of stages through which those making transition" have lessened considerably during the last the switch successfully move. decade. Also, after being replaced by functional resumes, chronological resumes are now back n favor (Burton and Burton, M. L., and Wedemeyer, R. A. In Transition. New i Wedemeyer 1991; Stern 1993). York: HarperBusiness, 1991. Gender differences in coping with job loss. Research Authors' experiences conducting the Harvard Business studies of displaced professionals reveal that, although School Club of New York's Career Seminar form the basis men.and women experience the same psychological and of this book on the topic of career transition. Its three physical distress, women tend to seek more social support sections lead the reader through the process of career from friends and former coworkers following job -loss assessment and the job search. (Eby and Buch 1992; Leana and Feldman 1991). Daoust, T. Swing Employed D. C. Lexington, MA: Disproportionate unemployment among older workers. Heath, 1990. to October 1992, the rate of From October 1991 unemployment for individuals aged 55 and over increased This book describes what both employed persons and job 7 times that of individuals aged 16-54. In addition, older hunters must do today to remain employed. Examines the workers experience longer periods of unemployment. In new employment market and provides steps for "hiring an 1992, the median job-hunt time for all workers was 8.8 employer." weeks but for those aged 55-64, it was 16.7 weeks (Stern 1993). 3 Eby, L. T., and Buch, K. "Gender Differences in Coping "Creating the Future after Job Loss." McKnight, R. with Involuntary White Collar Job Loss." Paper Twining and Development 45, no. 11 (November 1991): presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern 69-72. Psychological Association, Knoxville, TN, March 25-28, 1992. (ED 344 157) Describes a training program that can help displaced workers overcome typical reactions to job loss and visualize and plan A research study tested the Latack Dozier model of career for their desired futures. growth, finding that for both men and women an over- whelming response to job loss was career growth but there Morton, G. L. "Helping Managers and Employees Cope were significant gender differences on several variables with Work-Force Cutbacks." Training w:d Development including post-job loss family support and post-job loss Journal 37, no. 9 (September 1983): 50-54. fnend/coworker support. Suggests ways that cutbacks and their effects can be Feldman, D. C., and Leana, C. R. "Managing Layoffs in the minimized. '90s: Business and Economic Review 39, no. 2 (January- March 1993): 3-13. Nussbaum, B. "Downward Mobility." Business Week, March 23, 1992, pp. 56-63. Makes recommendations for managers to consider in implementing layoffs and describes most common corporate Discusses several trends related to white-collar displacement, interventions designed to soften effects of layoffs. including the move to entrepreneurship and declining econ- omic aspirations. Profiles several professionals who lost jobs. Fox, P. Thriving in Tough Tunes. Hawthorne, NJ: Career Plewes, T. J. "Workforce Trends, Workplace Trends: How Press, 1992. They Dictate a Changing Education and Training Strategy." Paper presented at the Work Now and in the Presents a strategy designed to help individuals take charge of their careers in today's changing workplace so that they Future Conference, Portland, OR, November 2, 1992. can protect and advance their careers. Examines trends that are affecting the work force and causing worker that are those Gibbons, R., and Katz, L. F. "Layoffs and Lemons." Journal including workplace, displacement. Concludes that focusing on the future should of Labor Economics 9, no. 4 (October 1991): 351-380. not preclude fixing today's problems. Examines Current Population Surveys data for pre- and postdisplacement earnings among white-collar workers, Stern, L. "How to Find a Job." Modem Maturity 36, no. 3 (June-July 1993): 24-34. concluding that those who are replaced by plant closing fare significantly better than those who are lad off. Reviews trends related to older worker displacement and provides strategies for finding a job in current "tough" Hayslip, J., and Van Zandt, C. E. "Dealing with Reduction Career Guidance for State Employees." Describes issues related to self-employment and in Force: market. Vocational Guidance Quarterly 33, no. 3 (March 1985): age. 256-261. Describes a workshop designed for state department of Resource Organizations education employees facing a reduction in force. American Association for Retired Persons, 601 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20049 (202/434-6070). Holmes, B. H., and Werbel, J. D. "Finding Work Following Job Loss: The Role of Coping Resom ces: Journal of of Outplacement Consulting Firms, Employment Counseling 29, no. 1 (March 1992): 22-29. Association 364 Parsipanny Road, Parsipanny, NJ 07054 (201/887-6667). Investigated importance of coping resources in finding Center on Education and Training for Employment, reemployment after job loss; those who became reemployed Entrepreneurship Program Area, 1900 Kenny Road, within 3 months were more internal in their locus of control Columbus, OH 43210-1090 (614/292-4353). and possessed better problem-solving skills. Forty Plus. See local telephone directory for a chapter in Leana, C. R., and Feldman, D. C. "Gender Differences in Journal of Vocational your area. Response to Unemployment." Behavior 38, no. 1 (February 1991): 65-77. Online Career Center. Contact [email protected] (automated reply) or occeemain.msen.com (Bill Warren, Study of unemployed professionals found that men relied director). This national public access database on Internet more on problem-focused activities such as job search, for recruiting, outplacement, and career assistance includes whereas women relied more on symptom-focused activities job listings, company profiles, and resumes of job seekers. such as seeking social support. Mandel, M. J. "This Tim; the Downturn Is Dressed in Options Inc., 225 South 15th Street, Suite 1638, Philadelphia, Business Week, October 1, 1990, pp. 130- PA 19102 (215/735-2202). Pinstripes." 131. 409 3rd Street, SW, Business Administration, Small Washington, DC 20416 (800/U-ASK-SBA). Reviews the effect of late 1980s recession on white-collar workers. was developed with funding from the Office This Trends and Issues Alen Mandel, M. J., and Bernstein, A. "Dispelling the Myths that U.S. Department of Research and Improvement, of Educational Are Holding Us Back: Business Week, December 17, Education, under Contract No. RR93002001. Oninions expressed do not 1990, pp. 66-70. necessarily reflect the position or policies of OERI or the Department. may be freely reproduced. Alerts Enumerates "comforting" myths and "hard truths" about competing in the world market, including those related to CENTER ON EDUCATION white-collar employment. The global economy is depicted as AND TRAINING FOR EMPLOYMENT a potential negative force on the United States. COLLEGE OF EDUCATION THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Cdelxi.. Ono 4ri0.1010 190C Km Row 4