I will address three pressing issues which are present in the American workplace.
The first is whether college is sufficiently preparing student to enter the workforce. This may depend on the degree the student is pursuing. Only 2% of companies actively seek persons with liberal arts degrees. As compared to 27% seeking engineering/computer information systems and 18% seeking business. (Rogers) However, the future seems bleak for everyone as a Gallup poll reveals “…only 11 percent of business leaders — strongly agree that graduates have the necessary skills and competencies to succeed in the workplace.” (Alssid) This is contrary to a survey of academic officer. 96% believed “…they’re effectively preparing students for success in the workplace.” (Alssid) There is a significant difference between the skills taught at school and the skills required for work. To resolve this problem we must identify the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace and incorporate them into higher education. For employers the top three desired characetristics in an employee are, respectively, a positive attitude, communication skills, and an ability to work on a team.
According to a The Head Foundation Study, a significant fear North American millennials have as they enter the work force is being overworked. This fear is not common across the world. 8 in 10 of worker report being stressed due to their job. (Gregoire) Stress also reduces the productivity of a worker. Not only are employees overworked at their workplace but they also bring their work home. 81% of U.S. employees check their work emails at home. (Gregoire) The average work week for a full time employee in the U.S. is 46.7 hours. (McGregor) However, studies show a longer work week does not produce greater productivity. (Gregoire) Employees must find a adequate balance between work life and personnel life in order to be happier and be more productive.
The final issue I want to address is workplace discrimination. To many this may seem like a thing of the past but it continues to occur far too often. Discrimination based on sex, race, and other factors still exist. A study conducted by Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes revealed overweight persons are perceived to be less competent. (Peck) This is an issue which may seem irrelevant to most people. However 1/3 of the American population is considered to be obese. (Peck) Yet this form of discrimination is thought to be more acceptable than discrimination based on sex, race, and religion. There also exists discrimination against the LGBT community. Currently there are no federal law protecting LGBT persons from discrimination in the workplace. (Peck) Considering the many studies which suggest a diverse workplace is beneficial, discrimination should not be a common workplace occurrence.
Sources
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julian-l-alssid/a-new-gallup-survey-says-_b_4862669.html
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/05/20/is-college-adequately-preparing-students-for-workforce/
https://hbr.org/2015/02/what-millennials-want-from-work-charted-across-the-world
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/09/02/the-average-work-week-is-now-47-hours/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/workplace-discrimination/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/discrimination-obesity_n_6716230.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/30/lgbt-discrimination_n_6571832.html
Karolina,
I like how you contrasted the percentages (11% of business leaders with the 96% of academic officials) of the effectiveness of college in preparing students for success in the workplace – it shows just how large of a disparity there is in college course learning. As we talked about in class, higher education classes involve mainly individual learning whereas the workplace in this day and age is more collaborative and increasingly involves teamwork between members. Although most students dislike group projects, I feel that it should be a necessity in college, no matter the major. You will always have to work with people regardless of your field of work; we see this in the fact that current businesses are heading towards collaboration between employees – such as those startups in the Centre for Social Innovation – rather than individualistic, ‘cubicle-like’ work.
The issue of workplace discrimination is also one of great contention, and is definitely not a thing of the past. I’m glad that you mentioned the problems that obese persons have in job employment. When most people think of office discrimination, they tend to immediately about judgment due to race, gender, or sexual orientation. No one really realizes the inherent prejudice that overweight people face in the job market.