Globalization's Influence on Work and Employment: A Report

This report examines the multifaceted impact of globalization on work and employment, with a specific focus on Hong Kong and India. It begins by defining globalization, its scope, and various approaches, including the McDonaldization approach. The study explores how globalization influences work and employment, highlighting both positive and negative effects. Positive impacts include increased trade, foreign direct investment, poverty reduction, and improved wages and working conditions. Negative impacts include increased competition, potential threats to cultural diversity, and unequal distribution of benefits. The report analyzes the impact on employment rates, wage inequalities, and the creation of a global labor market. The analysis considers the economic landscapes of Hong Kong and India, exploring how these regions have been affected by globalization's trends. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the complex and evolving nature of globalization's impact on the global economy and its workforce.

Running head- Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment

1
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Introduction
This paper has been designed to study the impact of globalization on work and employment in
regard to Hong Kong and India. Globalization is defined as the borderless world in which an
individual can easily move from one corner to another corner of the world in the search of
employment. Due to globalization, an organization can operate from anywhere in the world.
Globalization has improved or enhanced the scope of businesses and hence there are a lot of
opportunities available for the businesses in the market (Beck, 2018). Thus, it can be said that
globalization has significantly helped the business world to grow and develop over a period of
time. Due to globalization, employment opportunities have also been improved significantly. So,
globalization has not only helped the business to grow and develop but also has helped the
people to get employed. Globalization has also created challenges or issues for the business. Due
to globalization, the level of competition has increased significantly. It has mainly hurt the small
and medium local business because large organizations have dominated the market.
Therefore, it is important to analyze the impact of globalization on work and employment. In
order to complete this paper, Hong Kong and India have been selected. McDonaldization as an
approach to globalization has been selected to analyze the impact on work and employment.
Globalization Meaning and Scope
Globalization has become one of the most frequently used terms, particularly in economics and
politics. It can be defined as the process of integrating the whole economy of the world and make
the world borderless (Steger, 2017). The main goal of globalization is to ensure socio-economic
integration as well as the growth and development of the whole humankind of the world through

2
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
a free flow of knowledge, information, goods, and services including human across all the
physical borders or boundaries. It is active as well as the conscious process of expanding trade
and businesses all over the globe. It helps in expanding economic linkages and cross-border
facilities. It is done in order to ensure an active and effective integration of economic activities as
well as the interest of the individuals who are residing all over the globe. The main objective of
globalization is to make the world inter-dependent, inter-related, as well as developed. It is a
concept which helps in securing real political, cultural, as well as the social economic
transformation of the world into a real global community (Pieterse, 2019). It is also considered
that globalization has become a necessary means in order to secure the sustainable development
of all the people all over the globe. The desire of moving from national to the global sphere of
political as well as economic activities is represented by globalization. Thus, globalization is
both a structure of economic linkages as well as cross border facilities and an active process of
organizational expansion all over the globe.
Globalization has created several opportunities for business all over the globe. Now, an
organization can operate in any country in the world. So, the organization can have a relatively
larger customer base. Rapid technological advancement has also been possible due to
globalization. Technological advancement has supported businesses to grow and develop rapidly.
Globalization has also created more demand for products and services. Rate of employment has
been increased due to globalization (Vivarelli, 2018). It has not only increased the rate of
globalization but also has ensured the standard working environment. Labor laws of various
countries including Hong Kong and India have been improved. Wage rate has also been
improved. Thus, it can be said that globalization has produced a significant positive impact on
the work and employment although there are some challenges of globalization which should be

3
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
dealt with effective strategies in order to enhance the positive impact of globalization on work
and employment.
Approaches to globalization
There are several approaches to globalization such as internationalist, globalist,
transformationalist and McDonaldization which define how globalization has taken place. The
process of globalization is defined by these approaches and hence it is easy to understand the
process and concept of globalization using these approaches. Here, McDonaldization approach
has been used to describe and understand the concept of globalization. The McDonaldization
approach of globalization particularly states how society adopts the characteristics of other
societies (Ritzer, 2018). It particularly states the adoption of the characteristics of fast food
restaurant by a society. The process of McDonaldization approach defines the principles of the
fast food industry which are dominating almost every sector of the society in the world. For
example, there was no trend for fast food in India initially. There was no restaurant for fast food
in India. But with the passage of time, fast food restaurants started targeting India to enter
considering the potential of the Indian market (Dustin, 2016). Hence, fast food restaurants from
different countries including China stepped into the Indian market. It created employment
opportunities in India. Thus, it can be said that McDonaldization is an effective approach with
the help of which the process of globalization can be understood easily.
Globalization has a significant impact on work and employment. There is both positive as well as
the negative impact of globalization on work and employment. Therefore, it is important to
analyze and understand the impact of globalization on work and employment.

4
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Impact of globalization on work and employment
Globalization affects work and employment significantly. Due to globalization, several works
and employment opportunities have created. Millions of people have been employed. The
employment rate has been increased due to globalization at the global level. Globalization has
also improved wages, the standard of living, cost of living, etc. It has brought standard working
policy which has strengthened the power of workers (Nica et al., 2016). But there is some
negative impact of globalization on work and employment. First of all, the positive impact of
globalization will be discussed here.
Globalization has boosted trade volume on the global level. Trade is one of the significant parts
of economic growth. If the trade volume of a country is higher, the rate of economic growth of
that country will also be higher. Increase in the trade volume also increases employment
opportunity within the country. More and more people from that country will be employed. As
the rate of employment will increase, the per capita income of the people will also increase. It
will enhance their standard of living.
Globalization has also significantly contributed to poverty eradication. Poverty is one of the
major causes of backwardness and underdevelopment. Globalization has improved trade and has
a significant impact on poverty. Poverty is directly related to trading practices. If the trade
volume of any country is low, there will be high poverty in that country. On the other hand, if the
trade volume of the country is high, there will be low poverty in that country.
Globalization has also boosted foreign direct investment which is very important for the growth
and development of the country. Foreign direct investment creates employment opportunities
within the country (Tejani and Milberg, 2016). Several organizations have entered into the

5
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
market of India due to globalization. India has become one of the most attractive markets in the
world. Therefore, most of the organizations want to enter into the market of India. Globalization
has also supported the organizations to enter into the market of India. It has not only helped the
foreign organizations but also India. Thus, India has attracted a handsome amount of money in
the form of foreign direct investment within the country. It has helped the country to build and
improve infrastructure facilities. Similarly, Hong Kong has also attracted foreign direct
investment from different countries. Hong Kong has particularly attracted foreign direct
investment in the tourism sector. However, other sectors such as manufacturing and service
sectors have also attracted foreign direct investment. Globalization has accelerated the growth
rate of these two countries significantly.
Unemployment and wages inequalities have also been reduced by globalization on a large scale.
Unemployment is a major concern of every country and hence every country develops initiatives
to reduce the rate of unemployment (Reader, 2017). As it has been discussed that globalization
has created tremendous employment opportunities thus the Global unemployment rate has been
dropped significantly. Apart from this, the issue of wages inequalities has also been considered
and initiatives have been taken to reduce the inequalities in wages. Globalization has brought a
standard wage rate for the labors in order to improve their living standard. Underdeveloped
countries, as well as developing countries, provide low wages to the labor which is not sufficient
for living. Globalization introduced the standard wage rate for the labors so that they can
improve their living standard.
Globalization has not only improved the wage rate of the labor in developing as well as
underdeveloped countries but it has also improved the working policies, rules and regulations. It
is very important to provide a healthy and hygienic working environment. Globalization has

6
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
described how the working environment can be improved to provide better facilities to the
employees. It is informed of some necessary elements which should be ensured at the
workplaces such as basic amenities, safety from fire, first aid facilities, drinking water facilities,
sanitation, toilet facilities, etc.
Globalization has created a global labor market. After the introduction of globalization, an
individual from any country can move anywhere in the world in search of a job. So, it can be
said that there is more opportunity for employment nowadays due to globalization (Helpman,
2016). There are several other positive impacts of globalization on work and employment but it
is also important to analyze the negative impact of globalization on work and employment.
Globalization is the effort of the richest countries in the world. Thus, it mostly benefits the
richest countries instead of benefiting the developing or underdeveloped countries. It
significantly operates in the favor or in the interests of the developed countries. So, with the help
of globalization, developed countries continue to dominate the world trade at the expense of
underdeveloped as well as developing countries. Globalization creates employment opportunities
significantly but most of the employment opportunities are entertained by the workforce of
developed countries (Farzanegan and Hassan, 2017). It is also not necessary that the wealth
created by the investment or foreign direct investment will benefit the local community. Only a
few percentages of the people of the local community enjoy the employment opportunities
created by globalization. It has also been considered that globalization is a threat to the cultural
diversity of the world. Wage rates are also less influenced by globalization.

7
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Conclusion
It can be concluded that globalization is one of the significant concepts which has changed the
global scenario. It has changed the business world or the corporate world. Globalization has a
significant impact on almost every aspect of an economy but it has significantly affected work
and employment. Globalization has improved employment rate at the global level. Trade has
been improved by globalization which has reduced the unemployment rate and hence poverty
ratio has been reduced. It has also improved the working culture and environment. But there are
some disadvantages of globalization as well. India and Hong Kong have enjoyed the benefits of
globalization on a large extent. It mostly favors developed countries and employment
opportunities are also enjoyed by the people of developed countries mostly.

8
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
References
Beck, U. (2018). What is globalization?. John Wiley & Sons.
Dustin, D. (2016). The McDonaldization of social work. Routledge.
Farzanegan, M. R., & Hassan, M. (2017). The impact of economic globalization on the shadow
economy in Egypt.
Helpman, E. (2016). Globalization and wage inequality (No. w22944). National Bureau of
Economic Research.
Nica, E., Manole, C., & Potcovaru, A. M. (2016). Competition in the worldwide workplace:
economic globalization and labor rights. Journal of Self-Governance and Management
Economics, 4(3), 73.
Pieterse, J. N. (2019). Globalization and culture: Global mélange. Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers.
Reader, J. (2017). Reconstructing practical theology: The impact of globalization. Routledge.
Ritzer, G. (2018). Rationalization, Bureaucratization, and McDonaldization. Core Concepts in
Sociology, 247.
Steger, M. B. (2017). Globalization: A very short introduction (Vol. 86). Oxford University
Press.
Tejani, S., & Milberg, W. (2016). Global defeminization? Industrial upgrading and
manufacturing employment in developing countries. Feminist Economics, 22(2), 24-54.

9
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Vivarelli, M. (2018). Globalization, Structural Change and Innovation in Emerging Economies:
The Impact on Employment and Skills.

10
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Assignment 2

11
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment

12
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
Introduction
The focus of this paper is on social inequalities. In order to analyze the social inequalities two
countries such as India and Hong Kong has been selected. Both are developing countries and
there are significant social inequalities within these two countries. There are several forms of
social inequalities such as wealth inequalities, life inequalities, treatment and responsibility
inequalities, membership inequalities, and political inequalities which should be eliminated from
the society in order to ensure overall growth and development of the people of the society. Some
of the major examples of social inequalities which significantly hamper the growth and
development of the society are income gap, healthcare, gender inequalities, as well as social
class (Hurst et al., 2016). Eliminating such types of social inequalities is necessary to ensure the
welfare of all the people of society. Here, one form of social inequalities (wealth inequality) has
been discussed in order to accomplish this paper in an effective manner. The purpose of this
paper is to analyze the impact of changing pattern of work and employment on the selected
social inequality. The pattern of work and employment has been changed significantly over the
period of time. Therefore, it is important to analyze the impact of changing pattern of work and
employment on the social inequalities (Parpart and Stichter, 2016). It will help in understanding
whether the changing pattern of work and employment is bridging social inequality or not.
Wealth inequality
Wealth inequality is one of the major social inequalities of society. In India, it has been found
that top five percent of the population shares 95% of the total wealth while bottom 95% of the
population share 5% of the total wealth. Hong Kong is also suffering from this issue on a large

13
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
extent as the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. In the Gini Coefficient
Index, the figure for Hong Kong is 0.539 which indicates that there is significant wealth
inequality in the country. Wealth inequality is a major problem of social imbalances. The wealth
of an individual can be defined as the net worth the individual has. The net worth is the sum of
total assets minus liabilities. Assets include everything such as cash in savings accounts, real
estate, investment in bonds and stocks, retirement accounts, and personal residence. On the other
hand, liabilities include what an individual owns such as the balance of credit card, mortgage, car
loan, house loan or any other types of loan, any bill which is due, etc. Wealth inequalities show
the wealth differences among the people of a community (Saez and Zucman, 2019). Sometimes,
people use income inequality and wealth inequality as synonymous but wealth inequalities is a
broader concept than income inequalities. The concept of wealth inequality states that rich
people are getting richer day by day while poor people are getting poorer every day. So, it can be
said that wealth inequality is one of the root causes of social problems in any society. It has been
observed that wealth inequality is rising with the passage of time. And hence, the government
should take initiative to bridge the wealth inequality. Bridging the wealth gap in the society will
help in solving so many social problems such as exploitation of the poor people by rich people,
malnutrition problems, hunger problem, education and health problems, etc.
Impact of wealth inequalities on the society
Wealth inequality significantly affects society and it leads to social problems on a large extent.
Here, the impacts of wealth inequality on the society have been observed in regard to India and
Hong Kong. It has been found that wealth inequality in one generation creates an opportunity for
inequality of wealth in the next generation. So, it seems an endless issue. Wealth inequality is a

14
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
problem in itself but it is also a major reason for all the social problem and inequalities in
society. It may lead to income inequality in society (Jones, 2015). On the other hand, it may also
lead to political inequality. Significant wealth inequality leads to severe exploitation of people
with less wealth. The poor people get poorer while the rich people get richer. As the people get
richer they gain a sense of dominance over the less wealthy people. So, all the major benefits
within society are enjoyed by a wealthy person. They also restrict poor people to get benefited
from the plans made for poor people. The poor live in a remote area where proper hospital
facilities, education facilities, drinking water facilities, sanitation facilities, and infrastructure
facilities are unavailable. The everyday cost of living is increasing and it is necessary to enhance
their per capita income to live a healthy life. But instead of enhancing their income and wealth,
they are getting poorer (Nishi et al., 2015). Therefore, there is a need to take an effective
initiative to bridge the gap so that every individual of the society can easily have access to all the
facilities needed to live a healthy and happy life.
Changing pattern of work and employment and its impact on wealth
inequality
Both India and Hong Kong have experienced changes in the pattern of work and employment
over a period of time. The pattern of work and employment has been changed significantly over
a period of time in both the countries. Some of the industries have declined and related jobs have
been disappearing while new types of industries and jobs have been developed. Level of
employment has also changed with the passage of time. There are several reasons for changes in
the work and employment pattern and the impact of the economic or business cycle is one of the
main reasons for changes in the pattern of work and employment. It may also have taken place

15
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
due to changes to the demographics of the society or country. Structure changes in the economy
have also brought changes in the pattern of work and employment.
Women are getting into jobs which are one of the significant changes in the pattern of work and
employment. Women have entered into the corporate world over the past 30 years. Women are
making their career in the field in which men used to make their career. They have proved that
they are not lesser than men in any field. They are excelling in education and hence getting
placed at the higher post in jobs. Initially, girl children were not allowed to get the education and
hence they were not part of the corporate world (Hakim, 2016). So, as they started getting
education and employment, the pattern of work and employment changed significantly. It
increases per capita income of the people of the society and hence wealth inequalities reduced.
The service sector has risen significantly over a period of time. The service sector has gained
dominance over other sectors significantly over the past 20 years almost all over the globe. The
service sector has increased significantly due to the emergence of the tourism sector. There are
several other industries which have significantly helped the service sector to boost over the
period of time such as insurance industry, banking industry, education industry, private health
care industry, as well as consultancy industry. Due to the rise of the service sector, more and
more people have been employed and hence their income has risen (Brown, 2016). It has also
reduced wealth inequality within society. The service sector has bridged the gap in income and
wealth inequality in society.
Earlier less skilled workers were there to work in the factories and companies. Due to less skill,
they were also getting paid with less money which was even not enough for living. But with the
passage of time, people started getting training in order to be skilled. More skilled individuals

16
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
started entering into the factories and companies. As the level of skill enhanced, their wages also
increased. It has been found that skilled workers have increased over the past 30 years. It has
made possible due to increased education facilities as well as training programs. Thus, the per
capita income of the people has been increased which has reduced wealth inequality in society
significantly.
Some of the people work part-time to earn their living along with getting education or training to
be a full-time employee. Part-time workers have increased significantly. Mainly students are
part-time workers. During their education and study, they also work in companies for part-time
to earn money. By doing this, they finance their expenses and hence it reduces the burden of
their parents (Lyons et al., 2015). It helps in increasing the income of the family. Thus, wealth
inequality is being bridged.
Due to globalization now people can easily move from one place to another place in the search
of jobs. People are getting jobs in foreign countries even on more pay. People from less
developed as well as developing countries travel to developed countries in the search of jobs.
They work there and earn handsome money which they send back to their home country. It does
not only improve their financial condition and bridge the wealth gap in society but also
contribute significantly to the GDP of the country. On the one hand, it reduces the wealth gap in
a society and on the other hand it reduces economic inequalities.
People are being aware of the importance of education in their lives. Initially, it was considered
that sending children to schools to get an education is the waste of time and money. It will not
yield anything. But with the passage of time, as people started getting education and jobs at a
higher position, more and more people started sending their children to schools. Thus, the rate of

17
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
enrolment in schools increased significantly. It increases the literacy rate. As the people became
educated they want to live a healthy and happy life (Sweet and Meiksins, 2015). Thus, they
worked hard and got employed. It has also been found that as the rate of literacy increases more
jobs and employment opportunities created. Thus, more and more people were started getting
jobs which enhance their income level and wealth. It reduced the gap in wealth within the
society.
In every country where there is high wealth gap, the government has started several plans to
make the people either employed in the organization or self-employed. There are thousands of
individuals who are self-employed and earning handsome money. They are not only self-
employed but also create jobs for other people. The government has taken initiatives to protect
the weaker section of the society from being exploited by rich people. The weaker section of the
society is being provided with several benefits such as free access to education and health
facilities. The government is encouraging them to work and earn money. It will also help in
bridging the wealth gap.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the changing pattern of work and employment has a significant impact
on social inequalities. Over a period of time, the pattern of work and employment has been
changed considerably. Earlier, people were not very eager to work in the factories and companies
to earn money. It kept them away from employment opportunities and hence there was a
significant gap in wealth. The rich were getting richer with the passage of time while the poor
were getting poorer. It was one of the reasons of every social evil and there was an urgent need
to improve the wealth of the poor people so that they can be prevented from being exploited by

18
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
the richer section of the society. Women started working in the companies which significantly
helped in bridging the wealth gap. Employment opportunities have been created and more people
are being employed which also helps in bridging the gap of wealth inequality.

19
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment
References
Brown, R. K. (Ed.). (2016). The changing shape of work. Springer.
Hakim, C. (2016). Key issues in women's work: Female diversity and the polarisation of
women's employment. Routledge-Cavendish.
Hurst, C. E., Gibbon, H. M. F., & Nurse, A. M. (2016). Social Inequality: Forms, causes, and
consequences. Routledge.
Jones, C. I. (2015). Pareto and Piketty: The macroeconomics of top income and wealth
inequality. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(1), 29-46.
Lyons, S. T., Schweitzer, L., & Ng, E. S. (2015). How have careers changed? An investigation of
changing career patterns across four generations. Journal of Managerial Psychology,
30(1), 8-21.
Nishi, A., Shirado, H., Rand, D. G., & Christakis, N. A. (2015). Inequality and visibility of
wealth in experimental social networks. Nature, 526(7573), 426.
Parpart, J., & Stichter, S. (Eds.). (2016). Women, employment and the family in the international
division of labour. Springer.
Saez, E., & Zucman, G. (2016). Wealth inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence
from capitalized income tax data. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(2), 519-578.
Sweet, S., & Meiksins, P. (2015). Changing contours of work: Jobs and opportunities in the new
economy. Sage Publications.

20
Impact of Globalization on Work and Employment