Labor Shortage Between the HR and IR Perspectives
Prepare a short 2-3 page paper exploring how one of the problems identified in Week One would be viewed differently from an IR and HR perspective. You must cover BOTH perspectives and compare. Expand on what you considered in the first forum post. You may also choose an alternative labor problem than the one/s you focused on in the first week of class.
Here is what I wrote for week 1 for reference:
The labor market has been experiencing dynamic shifts in recent years. The most impactful ones occurred during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, exposing simmering ills in the area. In this context, the primary issue is that employees struggle with an often ignored and undermined challenge of income and benefit scarcity.
Labor shortage narratives continue to dominate the news concealing this primary and the single biggest issue facing employees in the nation and beyond. Economists such as Schweitzer and Khattar (2021) confess that a lack of desirable jobs is a persistent problem that has continued to attract minimal attention for decades. Diverse professionals from underprivileged regions expressed disappointment long before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. They complained of stagnant, modest salaries, unattractive working environments, and minimal benefits. The recent pandemic exposed this problem ushering in an era that marks the highest resignation rates in the United States, with estimates indicating that over 4.4 million employees quit their positions in 2021 due to unsatisfactory conditions. Olson (2021) dissects this emerging trend to reveal the worrying lack of employment opportunities with desirable benefits and incomes for the existing labor. In this context, employers should re-examine their packages and offer their potential candidates improved ones to solve this issue.
Trends prove that a shift in the labor market has revealed the leading problem affecting employees. Economists’ analysis indicates that the nation has a shortage of sufficient jobs that appeal to the needs of the workers based on the income package and benefits they offer. As a result, potential workers are left with few options to select, while others resolve to resign from positions with unconducive conditions. Such incidents illustrate the gravity of this issue.
References
Olson, C. (2021, July 2). There’s no labor shortage — just not enough good jobs. Los Angeles
Times. https://www(dot)latimes(dot)com/business/story/2021-07-02/labor-shortage-is-workers-crisis-as-covid-economy-recovers Links to an external site..
Schweitzer, J., & Khattar, R. (2021, December 7). It’s a good jobs shortage: The real reason so many workers are quitting. American Progress. https://www(dot)americanprogress(dot)org/article/its-a-good-jobs-shortage-the-real-reason-so-many-workers-are-quitting/ Links to an external site..
Reflective Essay – Labor Shortage between the HR and IR Perspectives
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
February 12, 2023
Understanding the various perspectives on various organizational and workplace issues is essential for every manager. It allows him to appreciate better the internal and external factors that could affect the overall dynamics of an organization. Accordingly, one of the current issues is the problem of labor shortage, which is made more difficult by low job wages, salaries, and even work satisfaction, among others. Accordingly, the succeeding sections of this article will focus on the various problems employers and organizations face these days and how this is viewed from the perspective of Human Resources and Industrial Relations. The author believes that understanding the workplace's internal and external environments is essential for organizational success.
The Debate
One of the main questions that must be answered before truly understanding the differences between perspectives is the debate between Industrial Relations and Human Resources. Accordingly, the differing perspectives on the issue of income and benefit scarcity arise due to differences in their focus and approach to labor-management issues.
On the one hand, Industrial Relations is concerned with the relationships between employees, employers, and the government and how these relationships impact the workplace (Guest, 2004). It views the issue of income and benefit scarcity as a result of the power imbalance between employers and employees, where employers hold the dominant position and can offer low wages and minimal benefits.
On the other hand, Human Resources focuses on managing people within organizations and aims to optimize the use of an organization's human capital. It views the issue of income and benefit scarcity as a result of inadequate compensation and benefits packages offered by employers. Human Resource professionals see it as their responsibility to design and implement compensation and benefits programs that are fair and competitive to attract and retain employees.
In other words, the differing perspectives on the issue of income and benefit scarcity reflect the broader philosophical differences between Industrial Relations and Human Resources (Rubery et al., 2002). While Industrial Relations takes a macro view a...