Final Blog

This semester, I have realized that technology is something of the norm and that in order to keep up with the evolving society, I was going to need to spend some time getting used to technology. I had never heard of the wiki and I was unfamiliar with blogging, so it all took some getting used to. Brown (2012) talks a lot about the effects of technology and how it has impacted the labor force. Personally, I think that technology has a significant amount of downsides. For instance, when I call a business and have to press ten different numbers before I talk to a human, I get quite annoyed. Also, in regards to machines taking over the jobs of people, I think that on good days, this can be great, but when the machine breaks down and needs to be fixed, it can cause the company to have a setback. As a society, we have come so reliant on the use of technology that we don’t necessarily prepare for when it breaks down which can be detrimental for some companies/people.

Brown (2012) also discussed economic factors that could affect the job outlook of the future. He talked about different needs and job openings based on the need of the citizens, such as the housing market (Brown, 2012). When the housing market boom occurred, there was a high need for construction workers to build the houses, but when housing reached a decline, those construction workers lost their jobs (Brown, 2012). This is important to relay to a client because if they are the type of person who needs stability in their life, they may want to pursue a career that will remain stable throughout time.

I thought that Brown’s (2012) short-term trends are very impactful on the economy and not often thought about. Our society is so reactive instead of proactive that we don’t prepare far enough in advance for natural or human disasters. This more often leads to periods of time where people have a hard time regrouping because they have lost their routine and sometimes everything they ever knew.

I had never really thought about the reasons why job availability has decreased through the years, and one thing that Brown (2012) mentioned was that people are working longer. Due to better health, people are able to live longer and in turn work into their later years. The projected increase of people who are over the age of 55 and are involved in the labor force is 25% (Brown, 2012). This is a significant increase and will have quite an impact on job openings for the younger generations.

On Wednesday, we attended Dr. Hall’s speech about the brain. He discussed how medical advances have allowed humans to learn so much more about what occurs inside of the brain, (PET scans, CAT scans and MRIs). Through the medical lens, technology has proven to be very beneficial.

Brown D. (2012). Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development. (10^th ed). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.