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Data reveal that individuals experience a high number of occupational switches. Over 40% of high school graduates transition between white and blue collar occupations more than once between the ages of 18 and 28. This paper develops a life cycle model of occupational choices based on workers learning about their type and sorting themselves to the best job match. Documenting life cycle patterns of occupational choices using data from the NLSY79 supports key predictions from the model. Initial characteristics are predictive of future patterns of occupational switching, including the timing and number of switches. In addition, the average time to the first occupational switch is longer than the time to the second switch for individuals with multiple occupational transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter analyses how best labour market programmes can reduce the costs borne by workers who lose their jobs due to business closings or other economic reasons ("displaced workers"). The chapter shows that a considerable number of workers are displaced every year and that many in this group - especially older workers in blue-collar jobs - experience large earnings losses due to both long periods out of work and re-employment at a lower wage. The chapter draws upon detailed case studies of policies to assist displaced workers in nine OECD countries and provides many examples of the effective use of active labour market policies and unemployment benefits to ensure that the labour market adjustment costs inherent to a dynamic economy are kept as low as possible and that these costs are not unfairly concentrated on the displaced workers who have the most limited job mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With high unemployment, low participation of specific groups such as the low-skilled and those nearing retirement age, and relatively low average hours worked, France is far from using its full labour potential. Improving the labour market situation would not only increase living standards and growth potential but also reduce social exclusion and ease pressures on public spending. This chapter discusses the need for a comprehensive reform of the labour market aiming at: i) shifting the burden of social protection in the labour market away from employers towards the state by reducing and streamlining employment protection legislation; ii) removing incentives that lead to early withdrawal from the labour market; iii) allowing employers and employees more freedom to negotiate working hours; and iv) improving efficiency in job placement services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshoring or offshore outsourcing is the term now being applied to describe the nascent practice among U.S. companies of contracting out the jobs of white-collar workers in service sector industries to firms located beyond our borders. The term is equally applicable to U.S. employers' long-standing practice of outsourcing blue- collar workers' manufacturing jobs to other nations. The outsourcing of service sector jobs to specialized U.S. firms began in response to the early 1980s recessions. Employers increased their focus on the company's core mission and contracted out peripheral activities to other U.S. businesses. The 2001 recession prompted U.S. employers to achieve further efficiencies by tapping into the global supply of labor. They utilized now widely disseminated technologies that permit low cost, good quality, and high speed transmission of voice and data communications to outsource service sector jobs to other nations. Events also transpired in the intervening years that enhanced the ability of other countries (e.g., India and China) to export both goods and services to the United States. Although the U.S. labor market has recovered from the 2001 recession, increasing global economic integration - globalization - has led workers to remain anxious about job security. Offshore outsourcing, which is one form of globalization, has adversely affected particular white-collar jobs: information technology (IT) occupations (e.g., computer programmers, systems analysts, and software engineers) and IT-enabled occupations (e.g., telemarketers and accounting clerks). Factory workers continue to experience job anxiety as their ranks further dwindle at the same time that the U.S. population overall reaps benefits from international trade (e.g., lower priced goods for consumers). Some observers believe that the United States has seen just the tip of the offshoring iceberg. By one estimate, 22% to 29% of all U.S. jobs possess characteristics that will make them susceptible to outsourcing to globally dispersed talent within a 10- to 20-year time frame. Others expect that firms will lose enthusiasm for offshore outsourcing due to various reasons (e.g., less-than- anticipated cost savings, and customer dissatisfaction) and consequently will use the business practice more strategically. No regularly collected series provides data on the total number of workers who thus far have lost jobs to offshoring. Congress has a longstanding interest in assisting workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own. In addition to unemployment benefits, laws currently exist to help individuals undertake education and training. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) focuses specifically on workers who lose jobs due to international trade. TAA generally does not apply to layoffs in service sector industries, however. Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) provides wage insurance to older workers displaced by trade who accept new jobs paying less than the jobs they lost. S. 122 and S. 1848 would amend ATAA, and S. 1330/H.R. 2202 would extend wage insurance to longtime employees unemployed for reasons in addition to trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]