Insecurity and Inequality of Work

Introduction

Good education, skills, ability and personality enable a person to get a lucrative job. People have equipped themselves with the necessary skills for the jobs of their dreams. Competition has thereof been very stiff. Promotions and wages differ even among the people who have the same qualifications. As a result many employees have developed specific perceptions towards their jobs. They see inequality in job rewards. Also, many employees are afraid to lose their jobs. One may think that he/she is more incompetent than the other. The perception of social inequality has, hence, affected the employment. In reality, jobs and wealth are never equally distributed. Therefore, we need to understand the inequality and insecurity of jobs, with an aim of changing the negative mentality of inequality in our social life.

Difference between Work Insecurity and Inequality

Inequality is a state of unfairness. Work inequality, therefore, is the situation where workers having equal qualifications and skills are not treated equally in such aspects of employment as promotions, wages level, and training among others. This mostly will occur in considering non-personal features for its fairness. On the other hand, work insecurity is a human perception. Insecurity is a situation of uncertainty. Work insecurity is the perception of an employee that he/she might lose a job or might experience an unexpected termination of his/her work contract. It revolves around job uncertainty. Psychologically, job insecurity is a perception that is culminated by the environmental change of the workplace. Most importantly, the employee’s perception of his/her impact and roles in an organization defines the perception. An employee may doubt his viability regarding objectives of the organization.

Effect of Inequality and Insecurity on Social Groups

Human as a social being has common social groups. These social groups are formed by people with similar characteristics and status of life. Inequality automatically leads to social inequality. It leads to the development of many conflicts, ideologies, and perceptions towards various social groups. Insecurity widens the gap between people from different social groups. Divisions between the wealthy people and disadvantaged will be of great margin and full of blame. Trust is diminished between the social groups. In most cases, anxiety will loom in one group while happiness will be the fate of the other. The health status of people has deteriorated. Tension existing among people causes stress. Inequality may lead to emergence of unhealthy social groups based on race gender, etc. Social hierarchies develop due to the inequality. For instance, work inequality may lead to poor communication and noncooperation at the work place.

Work inequality and insecurity lead to negative perceptions of people with different income levels. The social classes blame each other for the economic problems. The pattern of buying goods and health medication hence changes. The social inclusion of various social classes is negatively affected.

Inequality and Insecurity of Jobs in Canada

Work has been unequal in Canada. The income inequality has increased over past twenty years. This is a possible indication of the existence of jobs inequality in the country. Income inequality is closely associated with job inequality. It is believed that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Various reports have indicated that the richest group in Canada increased its shares nationally where the poor lost the share. In such countries, where inequality of income exists, the low-income people feel insecure. Few jobs produce steady income in the country. Moreover, only 68% of jobs in the country have rewards of pensions and other accrued benefits. It is clear that in such economies every person is struggling to make ends meet; hence work insecurity must be a common feeling to many employees. Employment discrimination has also been rampant.

People with disability are also facing social inclusion. Job insecurity in Canada has not yet faded. The recent survey indicated that 485,000 Canadians lost their jobs and 155,000 have found work. This is a clear indication of how easily one can get his job terminated. The feeling of job insecurity is not an uncommon feeling to Canadians. The employers have been replacing fulltime workers with temporal workers; this has worsened the perception of jobs by employees. It is believed that every family has a member who cannot find a permanent job. Securing a job has been seen as a hard labor. Various reports show that securing a job in Canada is hectic.

Causes of Inequality in the Labor Market

The difference in the incomes of high-paid people and low paid people is common to many countries. There are various reasons for this disparity. Firstly, technological advancement has led to this difference in the labor market. The high advancement in information technology skills has resulted in the inability of some people to access high-paying jobs. People who do not meet the requirements are not able to secure a good job. The only solution is providing equal education and skills to all people. High skilled people are earning more than their counterparts. Education plays a significant role in securing a job. Less educated people find it hard to get job opportunities. The more a person is educated, the higher the reward he/she will reap.

Changing of norms and institutions has caused the inequality in labor. Societal norms are blamed to bring constraints in an amount of income to employees. In various countries, immigration affects the labor market. Immigrants who are more skilled may be in a better position to secure lucrative jobs than the locals. This results in inequality between the skilled and the unskilled locals.

Race and gender disparities have also caused the inequality in the labor market. Incomes vary depending on the race and gender. Men are expected to earn more than women. There are jobs that are said to be best fitted for men. Hence, women may not be in a position to enjoy these jobs. Women are believed to consider other factors than salaries. They may choose to work in non-profitable organizations and government institutions. Traditional gender roles are still affecting the jobs.

Discrimination regarding sex, age, gender, race, and religion has been a significant factor of labor inequality. Some jobs have been perceived not to be suitable for old people. Racial discrimination has also been blamed for inequality in employment. Corruption can also be viewed as a hindrance to equal job opportunities to employees. Policies have been imparted that discourages the equality of job opportunities. Political influence negatively affects the job opportunities. The tax system is said to be unfair and regressive. Some jobs are highly taxed. The indirect taxes are said to bring inequality in income.

Global market factors have also contributed to labor inequality. Global economic policies have been changing the trend of job opportunities. Some global agreements like Trans-pacific partnership are feared to result in great job losses and declined wages. Globalization and superstar hypothesis that highly rewards a group of people has been a predicament to labor equality.

Government and Employer Involvement in Reducing Work-Related Inequality and Insecurity

The government can use policies to reduce the uncertainties and inequalities in work. The bargaining power of the government can be helpful as well as the support of the employers. The main aim is to ensure fair distribution of income and assuring employees of their jobs. The government can use either of the following methods; the government can modernize the labor policies that will promote job equality, controlling the employer’s access to an exploitable migrant workforce and also maintaining effective public sector. Policies have been implemented by both the government and the employer to reduce the job insecurity and inequality.

Temporary Foreign Workers Program has enabled people to have access to jobs and define their rights. The program helps to curb employees’ violations and abuses. The policy under the program considers the welfare of the immigrants working in foreign countries. The main aim of the program was to reduce the job shortages. The program helps to increase the payment of the lowly paid employees. The equality of the incomes has been successful.

Employment Standards and Labor Relations Legislation has some policies meant to help the negotiation of income and working conditions of the employees. It was meant to ensure the rights of the employees are safeguarded. The policy encourages the establishment of unions to fight for employees rights in private sectors. The policies set the minimum wages for particular job categories to ensure their employers do not mistreat people. The policy harmonizes the negotiation between the employer and employee on wages. It also helps the employer to create more jobs so as to improve the security of the jobs. The policy has been successful in Canada. Therefore, the law labor needs to be updated to ensure that current trends in the labor market were coherent.

Conclusion

Privatizing public services and reducing the public employment has been an effective move by the government. Private institutions are believed to pay higher incomes than public institutions.  A decrease in public employment will result in the widening of the gap between men and women employment. The policy by the government of gender equality has let more women to secure jobs, henceforth reducing the job inequality. Increased employment in the private sectors will result in many employees receiving pensions and other work-related benefits. Privatization will reduce the inequality and insecurity of work. The policies have been successful in Canada; hence, they can be deployed in other countries experiencing the same work-related problems.