Globalization's Effects on Employment and Work: A Critical Essay

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Work and employment
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Introduction
Globalisation is said to be an intriguing factor that substantially impacts the overall work and
business of the organisation (Beck, 2018). It can be said that it is a broader concept that includes
various areas of the subject such as employment, business turnover, brand image and more.
However, this paper is restricted to the impact of globalization on employment and work.
Primarily, it has an impact on the availability of jobs in the marketplace. Furthermore, there are
some views present through which the subject matter can be discussed in an elaborated manner.
Mainly the essay outlines the negative impact of globalisation, i.e. job loss and increased
unemployment.
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Main Body
Globalisation refers to the integration and interaction of economies. As per the views of Hirst, et.
al. (2015), globalisation facilitates free trade within the world, and it reduces subsidies, tariffs,
and various other barriers. Also, this promotes global economic growth that enhances job
opportunities and living standard of the employees. On the other hand, Steger (2017), states that
globalisation is not a profitable concept for everyone, as there are various disadvantages
associated with it rather than advantages. The major issue is that this concept makes rich the
richer and poor the poorer. Considering the context of removing trade barriers, Baylis, et. al.
(2017), described that through globalisation is a concept that is supposed to the removal of trade
barriers but still, there are many barriers left. For instance, in various countries, there is a value-
added tax on import which is very high. Thus, as per the views of Pieterse (2015), globalisation
has brought various benefits to the global economy and it promotes the development of countries
and on the other hand, Milanovic (2016), described that globalisation creates a decrease in the
jobs and employment opportunities.
The biggest advantage of globalisation is that it provides an opportunity for developing countries
to develop economically by infusing technology and capital. Also, it offers a worldwide market
for the individuals or companies who have access to products or services of different countries.
On the other hand, the major disadvantage associated with globalisation is that it transfers jobs
from developed countries to less developed countries. Apart from economic effects, globalisation
has a social and environmental impact too. Walter (2017) has assessed the environmental impact
of globalisation as it increases the world carbon dioxide emissions. Along with this, it
encourages dependence on other countries for goods and services (Kobrin, 2017).
There are various ways in which economic globalisation can create an impact on work and
employment. Basu and Nag (2017), stated that the major impact of globalisation is on the
number of jobs that are available in the economy. It is further identified that the impact of this
issue can be on microeconomic as well macroeconomic level. For instance, closing a company in
the country A in order to move to the country B can result in job losses in country A. On the
other side Galbraith (2017), stated that the globalisation and also technological changes have a
huge impact on the structure of jobs. These include the distribution across economic activities,
new activities, etc. The third affecting factor is the composition of jobs. Job composition is
referred to the unskilled and skilled jobs in the whole economy that are affected by economic
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globalisation. In the developed countries, low skilled workforce gets highly affected by
stagnating revenues and increasing unemployment due to the intense competition from the
workforce of developing countries. The workers in the developing countries are becoming more
qualified and engaging in service-oriented activities, and on the other side, the skilled workers in
the developed countries are facing more competition because of developing countries.
Jobs concerning with research and development are regarded of more strategic importance for
the country as these are linked with invention and innovation. As per the views of Kriesler and
Nevile (2016), some analytical tools identify and analyse the impact of economic globalisation
on employment, and these include statistical indicators, econometric models and job content of
trade method. The concept of globalisation has provided several benefits to businesses and now
companies have been able to carry out the more effective expansion of their operations and
business activities in the international markets (Ravallion, 2018). However, it can be critically
argued that along with providing different kinds of benefits to organisations, the concept of
globalisation has also resulted in carrying offering different kinds of negative impact on areas
such as work and employment. Job loss, for example, is one of the main and most important
negative impacts of globalisation on employment and work.
The concept of globalisation has encouraged many small and large scale businesses operating in
developed nations to expand their operations to developing nations. Adequate availability of
resources and low cost are the two major benefits because of which companies are now shifting
their operations and production facilities from developed nations to developing countries. The
result of this is that the employment market in many developed countries has been contrary
affected because globalisation has created job loss in many nations. It can be expressed that
because of the shift of production facilities, a huge gap has been created within developed
nations in the context of labour demand and supply.
Globalisation has created jobs in the developing nations of the world but at the same time, the
concept has resulted in negatively affecting the overall job market in the developed nations of the
world. The statement can be justified by the example of Apple Inc which is developed its
production facility in developing nation i.e. China. The result of this is that situation of job loss
or cutting down of the majority of the job were created in the home market of Apple which is the
USA. The intense competition in industries and sectors has resulted in forcing many companies
to operate with low cost of operations so that they can attain higher margins. The concept of
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globalization has resulted in hitting the labour-intensive industries and jobs in a very hard or
harsh manner. Furthermore, furniture, clothing and over related production sectors are the one
who has been adversely affected because of globalisation. Bourguignon (2016), has also been
identified that over the past few years, Asian markets have been very attractive to the leading
businesses of the world and the low labour cost and availability of advanced technology are now
encouraging these businesses to shift their operations from developed nations to the Asian
market. Globalisation has also negatively affected the work and employment level by enhancing
the overall degree of unemployment even in the developing countries of the world. It has been
described by Stijepic (2017), that the increasing level of unemployment has further resulted in
creating several obstacles in the overall growth and development of the nations. It is now
required by companies to understand the negative impact of globalisation on the domestic job
market, and at the same time, they are required to develop useful strategies through which the
problem can be resolved in the best and every possible manner (Beck, 2018). Apart from this, the
government in a developed nation should also create certain trade restrictions on businesses so
that an adequate level of employment can be maintained within these countries.
It is stated by Moutsatsos (2018), that increasing workplace diversity is another example of the
way in which globalisation has resulted in affecting the work. The concept of globalisation has
encouraged free, and more efficient flow of labour within countries and the result of this is that
now businesses are operating with a more diverse workforce. However, it can be critically
argued that managing a diverse workforce is not an easy task and there are wide ranges of issues
and challenges faced by businesses during the same. For example, the differences in social,
education, national and cultural background has resulted in increasing the chances of conflicts
and disputes between the workplace. It can be also argued that increasing conflicts can further
result in creating a negative working environment within the workplace or business. In addition
to this, the moral, motivation and productivity level of employees can also be negative affected
because of the same. Businesses are required to become aware of the fact that along with positive
outcomes, there are certain drawbacks associated with the concept of, and these drawbacks need
to be taken care of in the best and every possible manner (Hirst, et al. 2015).
Almost everyone within the world has adopted technological advancements and modern
technologies. Adopting technology has become an essential requirement to ensure the growth
and survival of the company. Moreover, it is not wrong to be said that, the country utilises more
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advanced techniques, the more developed country can be said. Thus, the business organization is
now emphasizing on adopting the latest technologies. It has been said by Lagarde (2016), that
numerous technologies are being used in the businesses and these technologies make the work
easier of them. Software and various applications along help in keeping a proper track record,
maintaining customer relationship, keeping a record of stock and inventory, etc (Arizpe, 2015). It
makes the work easier and more efficient a human being. Furthermore, the implementation of
such technologies within the organisation has become a key requirement in order to beat the cut
throat competition and attaining competitive advantage. Apart from this robotics technology is
very trending nowadays in the business organisation. For instance, a business organisation in
London is installing robotics technology within the manufacturing unit to enhance the quality
standards and reducing human efforts. Adoption of this technology has resulted in terminating
the employees or staff members of the organisation. Thus, in this way, the sudden termination or
removal of employees leads to having an adverse impact on the lives of the individuals as well as
the economic condition of the country. However, this is further argued by Cerna, et al. (2015),
that the globalisation promoted technological advancements and adoption of technologies and
this creates unemployment. In most companies, when the machines and variety of software get
installed, the employees are getting fired, and this encourages job loss. Hence, through the
technology has helped and made the human lives easier but it is also true that it encourages job
unemployment.
Another impact of globalisation is on the job unemployment can be seen as that the highly
skilled workers get avoided in their own country. In the era of globalisation, everyone is free to
enter any country in order to do jobs and get employment. Thus, in this way, the unskilled
workers and individuals agree to work in another country at a low cost in search of employment.
Business organisations then remove the skilled workforce that are demanding high wages and
hire the unskilled workforce (Helpman, 2016).
In order to deal with the technologies and robotics, the developing countries are required to
develop their own strategies. These strategies must emphasize the creation of more and more job
opportunities for domestic citizens. Also, the government can also restrict the shifting of the
whole unit to another country. There must be some policies and strategies that emphasise the
employment of the citizens of the domestic country. Apart from this, the skilled labour must not
be replaced by the unskilled workforce of another country because of low wages and
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compensation. Equal opportunities should be provided, and the adoption of technologies must
not create any adverse impact on the jobs of individuals. There must be some strategies framed
by the organisation as well as the government of the nation so that it can be strictly followed and
in this way, the adverse effects of employment can be reduced.
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Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that globalization is a concept that has
brought the whole world into a single roof. It has both positive and negative aspects. It has been
assessed that globalization has a significant impact on the economic condition of the country as it
enhances job loss and unemployment. Various factors have increased the scope of job
unemployment such as technology, transfer of labour, etc. However, there are some ways
through which it can be reduced.
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References
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