As I was reading this week’s chapter
I didn’t realize how our economy here in the United States can have such an
impact on other nations as well. I never really gave a thought to how our poor
economy would affect other nations’ unemployment, it kind of shocked how much
power one nation can have on other economies. I also knew that offshoring was
becoming a popular business practice because of how much money companies can
save in labor costs. I was amazed to see that workers in the Philippines are
willing to work for $1.10 an hour (Brown, 2012). I just find this completely
unimaginable because there is no way that anyone in our country could survive
on that type of wage. People in the United States who work minimum wage jobs
full-time are still having a hard time staying above the poverty line. Along
this line I was also intrigued by the differences in the ethnic groups who are
living below the poverty line. I wasn’t surprised that whites are the lowest
category but I was surprised to find out that African Americans have the highest
number of individuals living below the poverty line. I really thought that it
would more so be Mexican Americans, but I did learn something new.
Also,
as being a woman I was really unimpressed to see how much of a difference there
is in how much a man makes on a yearly basis compared to women. I felt like
that at this point in our country we would have more equality in the workplace.
If a woman has the same credentials and holds the same position as a man there
should be no discrepancy in their salaries. But I can also see how women may
choose careers that would pay less than the typical “men” careers. I think this
shows that as counselors if we are working with individuals on career
development we need to make sure that our clients know that they are capable of
doing any job that they want to do. I think it is important for us to start
breaking down the stereotypes that have been developed over the years. The work
field should now be an open playing field to all genders and ethnicity.
As
I was reading over the section about why people work I couldn’t help but think
about my dad. He has a very strong work ethic and has always been working as
long as he has been allowed to. My dad continues to work even though he has
enough money to take care of himself for the rest of his life. He has talked to
me why he continues to work and some of his reasoning is because he feels like
he is a valued member of society when he is working. He feels that working is
his only way that he contributes to society. I think this is important to also
remember when working with clients who may be unemployed because they be
feeling like they are not useful to society and that may be contributing to some
of the issues that they are having. I found this chapter very interesting and I
am looking forward to what this class has to offer.
Brown, D. (2012). Career
information, career counseling, and career development
(10th ed.). New York:
Pearson Education, Inc.
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