Labor mobility
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Labor mobility or worker mobility is the socioeconomic ease with which an individual or groups of individuals who are currently receiving remuneration in the form of wages can take advantage of various economic opportunities.
Worker mobility is best gauged by the lack of impediments to such mobility. Impediments to mobility are easily divided into two distinct classes with one being personal and the other being systemic. Personal impediments include physical location, and physical and mental ability. The systemic impediments include educational opportunities as well as various laws and political contrivances and even barriers and hurdles arising from historical happenstance.
Increasing and maintaining a high level of labor mobility allows a more efficient allocation of resources.
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[edit] Impediments to the mobility of Guest Workers
In most nations there are limitations on the rights of Guest Workers. If nothing else Guest Workers are not allowed to vote in elections for political office. And this lack of voice in the law making and law enforcement lends itself to, at least, some minor loss of mobility. But more importantly Guest Workers are often "sponsored" by a particular employer and they cannot freely change employers in search of better remuneration. In some nations workers are prohibited from relocating their families to the locale of their employment unless certain, and often, unattainable conditions are met.
[edit] Impediments to the mobility of all workers in the United States
The employer paid health insurance system and employer funded pensions are impediments to worker mobility because the employee loses and accrued credits gained under one employer as the worker moves to another employer. Most employers have a "vesting" period of one or more months (health insurance) or one or more years (pension plans) during which contributions are not provided by the employer. In nations where these benefits are moved outside the scope of individual employers through nationalized systems, real wages will be higher because of the enhanced mobility of the workers.
[edit] Impediments to European labor mobility
One of the biggest obstacles to mobility in Europe is people’s attitudes. Nowadays, young people are getting more flexible and international in their outlook. Many obstacles continue, however, to hamper mobility in the [EU]. Moving to another country frequently entails tackling a new language and getting accustomed to different rules, regulations and administrative requirements. It can also create problems for partners and spouses, who often encounter difficulties in finding a job. In addition, despite the existence of legislation aimed at ensuring the recognition of academic qualifications, people seeking work in an EU member state other than their own often have problems getting their university degrees or other qualifications recognised. And of course, adapting to a different language and culture cannot be underestimated. Practical issues and psychological barriers play most of the time a more important role than the legal and administrative difficulties that ought to be overcome. Matters like housing, schooling and employment are big impediments. Next to the factors mentioned above, the fear of not being able to reintegrate into the labour market in the home country often determines the decision to stay. Whenever Europeans do decide to change country, reasons mentioned are love, wellbeing, a better quality of life, or to be with relatives. Only 0.5% of those living in another country than their own, live there because of employment alone[1].
[edit] Common impediments to worker mobility
But the huge elephant in the room that poses the largest impediment to labor mobility is the system of privilege erected around property rights. While most socioeconomic schools of thought are in agreement concerning the privatization of earned wealth and the socioeconomic "good" that flows from such ownership, there is major controversy over the privatization of natural resources and the prolonged grant of privileges attached to intellectual property. Property rights form hurdles to the movement in social class from the "labor" category to the "entrepreneurial" category. When such rights are politically contrived, as in the case of land ownership (in perpetuity) and IP rights (for unnecessary time periods) then the impediments are quite harmful to socioeconomic good. Such politically contrived rights form socioeconomically detrimental barriers to entry and result in the privatization of economic rent.
[edit] References
- ^ European Commission. “European Year will promote workers' mobility”, Social Agenda, The European Commission’s magazine on employment and social affairs, No. 12, 2005
[edit] External links
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