Life Requires Imagination Essay - 1289 Words

Life Requires Imagination Not very many people have looked death in the eye. But, when a person does it is something can have a drastic effect on them. Some people are able to survive their deaths, however some end up passing on and are not able to turn their lives around. However, in the short story To Build a Fire by Jack London the man in the story does not survive his dance with death. In the story, the man, whom never gets a name, embarks on a very cold, very long journey to a mining camp. On his journey, he has to stop several times and build a fire in order to keep himself warm and keep himself going throughout his journey to the camp. He has a dog lead him, and then he must save the dog as it fell through the ice. Soon after, he†¦show more content†¦But, rather than waiting and keeping warm, the man simply keeps on moving when his body does need the rest. Also, he not only needs to keep warm, he separates himself from the boys. London states the other boys â€Å"had come over across the divide from the Indian creek country, while [the man] had come the round-about way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon† (4). This basically shows how confident he was about going about this trip alone and how he needed no one by his side in order to have a successful journey. This man wants to be just that, a man. And if he slows himself down, he does not consider himself a man any longer. The man tries to do everything in his power to make his trip to the mining camp successful, little does he know, he made his mistakes before the trip even began. He did not want to listen to the advice of an old man from Sulphur Creek. The man told him to never travel alone in that cold of whether, but instead of listening, he only continues with his travels, only because he wants to protect his own pride, and to be a man. London shows how foolish the man thinks the old man is when he states â€Å"Those ol d-timers were rather womanish, some of them, he thought. All a man had to do was keep his head, and he was all right. Any man who was a man could travel alone† (21). This clearly shows the manShow MoreRelatedChildren Of The Holocaust Survivor Essay1384 Words   |  6 Pagescoping mechanism to deal with his pain of remembering and to provide him with a moral compass from using his imagination to remember his past. Repression of Memories To try to deal with his memory of his parents and sister Bella, Jacob develops ways to repress his memories of losing his family during the Holocaust. His painful memories of losing his parents haunt him throughout his life. Memories that are so vivid, he has a difficult time letting go of his past most importantly his sister BellaRead MoreKnowledge Vs. Imagination1250 Words   |  5 PagesKnowledge End of Semester Assignment Question 3: â€Å"imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand â€Å"(Albert Einstein) Do you agree? In this essay, I aim to discuss the issue whether imagination is more important than knowledge. â€Å"For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there willRead MoreReview Of Lederach Named As An Essential Guide For Research And Practice Essay973 Words   |  4 PagesWhile reading the book by Lederach named as â€Å"Pertinent to The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace† and the book by Umbreit and Peterson â€Å"Restorative Justice Dialogue: An Essential Guide for Research and Practice† I have learned three important things; self-determination Creativity and Structure and Flexibility. Through the paper, I shall show how these important readings shall apply in my personal and professional life. a. Self-determination The first thing that I have learned fromRead MoreAnalysis Of Hunting By Rick Bass962 Words   |  4 Pagesstory describing his surrounding beautifully that towards the end of the article, his attempts to appeal to reader’s imagination strengthen his credibility and, ultimately, his argument. Bass begins building his credibility with personal experience and claims from other locals in the area. He argues that the two reasons that made him a hunter are the surrounding and the imagination. Throughout his piece, he talks about his surrounding and how it intrigued him to hunt He shares his story of an unplannedRead MoreProduct Review : Step2 Deluxe Toy Workbench1004 Words   |  5 Pagesevery aspect of life. The future mainly depends on how your child grew up and to some extent, the toys they interacted with. Therefore, parents should consider toy features and how they relate to real life before purchasing. An example to that can be possible choice is the Step2 Workbench. Looking at some of the key product features, you can make an informed decision about the product. Step2 Deluxe Toy Workbench Details The toy workbench transforms child play equipment to almost real life situation.Read MoreWilliam Wordsworth Poetry Analysis968 Words   |  4 Pages Individual Powers: Reflection, Imagination, and Feeling gives the poet, William Wordsworth, a chance to reflect upon his life. He writes this renown piece of literature at a time that the world is rapidly changing and shifting. Wordsworth is able to extract himself from hectic society, slow down, and absorb his surroundings while portraying central components of true romantic poetry in his piece. The poem was written toward the end of the 18th century, during the Romantic period. Romanticism emphasizedRead MoreCould Imagination Be More Important than Thought?643 Words   |  3 Pagesthe same knowledge but can never have the same imagination. Imagination is not only seeing pictures in the mind, it also includes smelling, feeling and tasting. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, imagination is, â€Å"the act of forming mental images of what is not actually present or never been actually experienced† (Agnes). Knowledge is, â€Å"the act, fact or state of knowing† (Agnes). Imagination and knowledge work hand in hand. Imagination is more important than knowledge because it leadsRead MoreDescartes Greatest Argument : Mind Body Duality1323 Words   |  6 Pagessimply be the brain and why, although we physically are present, our essence, our existence, is not linked with our physical self. Descartes arguments, however well crafted they may be, logically appear an inadequate explanation to our understanding of life. 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The sociological imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another: from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment; from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry.[1] Sociological Imagination: The

Causing Harm With Trade Embargos And Sanctions - 1678 Words

Causing Harm With Trade Embargos and Sanctions Trade embargos have tremendous consequences for countries that are being embargoed. The embargos not only affect the country that are being embargoed, but the effect bleed over the borders to the surrounding countries. The list of countries that have been sanctioned by the United Nations included Russia, North Cyprus, and Cuba. United Nations sanctions that target countries affect the economy, the morale, and encourages criminal activities to obtain goods. The majority of good hearted citizens would be appalled if they were walking down a street and saw a dog tied up in a yard looking like it hadn t eaten for a week. These citizens would take a minute retrieve their phone and call the Humane Society to report this cruel treatment of this poor dog. As doctor C. M. Tiplada, D. B. Walsh, and C. J. C. Phillips wrote in their journal article, â€Å"â€Å"Public outrage after undercover footage of animal cruelty is screened has been reported in a range of countries, such as USA, Canada, and the UK† (636). Who do the citizen call when they are being treated like the dog and the owner of the dog is the United Nations? This is how people around the world are being treated each and every day when their country has an embargo imposed on the resources that are able to enter and exit their country. These embargos create personnel harm to the citizens of the country at the expense of political malfeasance. The United Nations has a greaterShow MoreRelatedUnited States and Cuba Foreign Policy891 Words   |  4 Pagesbecause president Kennedy resolved a major crisis, the USSAR could have bombed down the USA within minutes. For Cuba this gave them a since of defiance and strength against America. Although there was a trade reduction in tension, Castro kept lines of trade with the US shut. 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Per Senator Marco Rubio â€Å"the embargo is not what is hurting the Cuban people Read More An Analysis of Joseph Nye’s Use of â€Å"Soft Power† and its Relationship with Morality in International Relations3033 Words   |  13 Pagesact in a manner which enhances or advances its own national interest at all costs despite morality and the interests of other nations. A nation cannot successfully navigate the muddy waters of International Relations by waging war and imposing trade sanctions upon all of those who oppose that nation. The second viewpoint on State power is based purely in morality. Idealism requires self sacrifice for the overall good of the global community. Physical power should perform as little of a role as possibleRead MoreCompany Valuation Report for Bp20320 Words   |  82 Pages92 at the point of oil leak containment. Despite a general increase thereafter, share prices trend was somewhat unstable and was considerably lower that its initial share price. 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Perception of the company as behaving unethically has led to the formation of  pressure groups  such as Killer Coke, product boycottsRead MoreNational Security Outline Essay40741 Words   |  163 Pagesof force† as opposed to â€Å"war† (in Kellogg-Briand Pact) shows intent to prohibit forceful reprisals as well as major coercion ii) Fundamental purpose of Charter is to prevent coercion – suggests that even minor coercion, even imposed simply as a sanction, should also be prohibited (evidence of this: 1964 Sec. Coun. Censured Britain for reprisals vs. Yemeni guerrillas) c) However, some actions popularly termed reprisals may more usefully be thought of as efforts of defense (lawful defense under ArticleRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesis not just a teleological assumption. 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Stroop Effect free essay sample

CogLab Report Stroop Effect CogLab Report The Stroop effect is a test that demonstrates a decrease in reaction time that occurs when the brain receives conflicting information. When sensory information conflicts, a processing delay occurs in the brain; this is interference. If a specific color is paired with its corresponding word then those two pieces of information are compatible. If the information conflicts then the individual is forced to make a decision. It is hypothesized that reaction times will be lower when the word and font color are the same and reaction times will increase when the word and font color are different. Method Participants A total of 20 undergraduate students participated in this experiment; 18 were women and 2 were men. Materials Students used CogLab, an online laboratory used as part of a cognitive psychology class, to complete the Stroop Effect task. Procedure Participants were asked to identify the color of each word as quickly as possible. Stroop effect and reading process Stroop effect is one of the most used indicator tests in investigating the efficiency of mental processes that confine action, emotion or thought (Bioulac et al. , 2005). Stroop effect is described as a test to further understand human perception which involves the automatic and the controlled mental processes (Shabazz, 2010). Stroop task is usually directed with two different conditions, the first one (congruent) is where participants are presented with a list of color names printed in ink color that it corresponds, and the second condition (incongruent) which incorporates a list of color names that does not agree with its ink color. In both condition, participants are ask to report the ink color used to print the color names (Bioulac et al. , 2005). Interference is found in both condition but with a greater magnitude in the condition where words or color names do not agree with the ink color (Bioulac et al. , 2005). Related to this is the reversed Stroop effect that requires participants to report the printed word rather than the ink color that produces which also produced interference but wilt a lower level than the classical Stroop effect (Au, E. Chen, R. Chen, Wong, 2000). Many researches pointed out automatic processes as the primary cause of Stroop effect (Aisenberg, Goldfarb, Henik, 2011; Bioulac et al. , 2005; Juvina Taatgen, 2009; Shabazz, 2010). Automatic processes is described as the thinking which is unintended, indirect or unaware that suggests unconsciously performing task beyond what is required to do, which supports the cause of automatic reading of words in a color-naming task (Aisenberg, Goldfarb, Henik, 2011; Shabazz, 2010). Cattell (1886) and Fraisse (1969) further proposed that it is more automatic to read words than to name certain color (as cited in Juvina Taatgen, 2009). A research by Shabazz (2010) also supports the conclusion that individuals are faster in recognizing the color and reading the color names than reporting the color of the ink used. Researches regarding stroop effect is essential for further and more in-depth understanding of human perception and also seeking to provide more information to further investigate and contributes to existing knowledge regarding Stroop effect and its future applications for human development. Many researches already used Stroop task to investigate different ideas such as the study about cognitive control that is said to be fundamental to interference resolution (Juvina Taatgen, 2009). Stroop task also became applicable in investigating attention bias of individuals to their own interest (Franken, Sayette, Schwartz, Waters, 2004). The present study is a replication of the research by Stroop (1935). In which the researchers faced with an inquiry of how the word stimuli (color name) interfere with the identification of the ink color of the word, and also how the ink color of the word affects the reading of the color name. The researchers hypothesized that individuals can name ink color faster if it corresponds to the same name color that when it is not. The response time between two conditions – congruent and incongruent – are measured to test whether congruency between color name and ink color results to a faster naming of color. Method Participants The participants of the study were two senior BASS Psychology students and 28 B. A Psychology sophomore students of University of the Philippines in the Visayas Tacloban College with ages ranging from 17-21 years old, 4 of which were male and 26 were female. Materials Materials used in the experiment were experimental instructions, congruent list (annex A), incongruent list (annex A) and data sheet. Procedure The experiment was divided into two sets. The first set was a condition wherein congruent color names and ink color were presented first before the incongruent set of words. In the second set, the first set of words presented was incongruent, followed by the congruent list of words. The experiment was conducted inside the Psych laboratory of the University of the Philippines Eastern Visayas Tacloban College. Assignment of which among the participants would be on the first set or second set was decided through count off. After the count off, all the participants inside the psych laboratory were told to stay at the DMX and wait for their names to be called by one of the experimenters. Two participants were called in every now and then. One of which was someone who was assigned to the first condition or first set, while the other participant was from the second set. There were three experimenters, two of which were the ones who conducted the exam and the third one was the person responsible for calling in the next participants of the experiment. Between the two examiners, each of them was assigned in conducting either of the two conditions and each of the experimenter has their own copy of the congruent and incongruent lists and manuscript of the procedure. The instructions that they gave to the participants were also from the same manuscript and were read at the same time. After the experimenter was assured that their participant has understood the instruction given and both him/her and the participants were ready to begin, they then commenced the test. Each participant has to read the set of words listed in the congruent or incongruent list given to them. In the congruent list of words, the participant was told to read the color names. On the other hand, in the incongruent list, the participant was told to name the ink color of the words. The length of time that the participant spent in reading was recorded by the experimenter. The experimenter spoke out the word â€Å"Go! † as a mark that the participant was already allowed to begin reading the words, while participants had to say â€Å"done! † right after they had finished reading the list to notify the experimenter that he/she has ended the first test. The experimenter then recorded the time duration right away on the line at the bottom of the data sheet. The same procedure was followed for the second test. Various measures were carried out by the experimenter to maintain control in the experiment and to ensure that only the IV would affect the DV of the experiment. The purpose of saying the words â€Å"Go† and â€Å"Done† were for helping the experimenter to correctly jot down the correct length of time the reading process of the participant has taken in each set of words, be it in Incongruent list or Congruent list. Reading of the same instruction to each participant was also to make sure that there would be no other factors that would intervene in the performance of the participant or having unnecessary disturbances in the flow of the experiment, which could influence the reliability of the result or data gathered. Research Design The research design used is Within-subjects design. Variables The independent variable of the experiment was congruence of color names and ink colors. Levels of IV were congruent color names and ink color and incongruent color names and ink color. The Dependent variable was reading speed which was measured in seconds using stopwatch. Extraneous variables controls were random assignment of participants, the distance between the locations of the two experimenters to avoid disturbance during the experiment, synchronized reading of the instructions and the use of counterbalancing. Data Analysis

Recruitment and Retention of Minority Officers an Example of the Topic Foreign Essays by

Recruitment and Retention of Minority Officers Abstract Overt racism, past and present, contributes to social and residential segregation, thereby isolating minorities at every income level from white society. Because of such isolation, minorities are vulnerable, by exclusion, to selection by personal connections. The negative impact of qualification standards in employment is sustained by racially biased funding of education and training resources and by the cumulative racist impact of such practices as tracking in schools. Minorities suffer the adverse effects of seniority based promotion and layoff because of past racist hiring of whites ahead of minorities. Institutional racism also reinforces future racism by contributing to the disproportionate presence of minorities at the bottom of employment--a presence that helps perpetuate the racist attitude that minorities are inherently inferior. White notions of minority people have been formed in a social world where minorities visibly predominate at these bottom levels. Thus they have lab ored--and continue to labor--as maids and porters, at "hot, heavy, and dirty" jobs in the foundries and paint pits of the auto plants, the boiler rooms of utilities, the dusty basements of tobacco factories, and in the murderous heat of the steel mills' coke ovens. Need essay sample on "Recruitment and Retention of Minority Officers" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The neutral procedures that have had the greatest racist impact within employment are selection by (1) personal connections, (1) qualification standards, and (3) seniority status. Reliance by employers on friends, relatives, and neighbors-their own or their workers'--has powerful racist impact--first, because of its paramount importance in the world of work, second, because of its links to overt racism. Numerous studies of workers--blue and white collar, professional and technical--indicate that communicating job information to family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances by word of mouth is probably the most widely used recruitment method. Vocational counselors emphasize the importance of making contacts through personal connections. Job seekers know the value of having friends in the department of their choice. Referral unions that influence or control hiring for many well-paid jobs in such industries as construction, printing, publishing, and transportation commonly recruit through personal contacts. Because, for the most part, minorities and whites live as two separate societies, it is not surprising that minorities suffer because of selection by personal contacts. Lacking ties to whites as family, friends, fellow students, neighbors, or club members, minorities tend to be isolated from the networks in which connections to desirable employment--where whites predominate--are forged. (Dana Y. Takagi, 1992). Hence minorities have been outside the channels leading to well paid jobs controlled by the predominantly white referral unions that recruit by word of mouth. Family or friends had virtually automatic preference for membership cards in such overwhelmingly white labor organizations as the Ironworkers' Union. Such recruitment by referral unions contributed to the virtual exclusion of minorities from employment on public construction projects until affirmative action enforcement brought some improvement in the recruitment and retention of minorities. Minorities also lack personal connections to residents of all-white suburbs where many new jobs have been created. That adverse effect on minorities is exacerbated when suburban employers rely on "walk-in" applicants from these white neighborhoods. Because whites disproportionately occupy elected government office, especially the more powerful positions, minorities suffer from the widespread use of political patronage to distribute government jobs. Although the lack of personal connections to the job market is in most cases an institutional barrier to employment for minorities, it arises in large part from segregation created by overtly racist practices. The segregation of minorities in schools, housing, accommodations, and public and private facilities was imposed by whites throughout the nation, either in ready conformity to explicitly racial laws or to the silent toleration of violence against minorities who dared to cross racial barriers. Today widespread segregation continues as an inherited social structure, excluding minorities from white residential areas and neighborhood schools, where they might develop white connections leading to employment. That structure of "ghettoization" is sustained by pervasive housing discrimination against minorities who wish to move into white areas. The isolation of minorities from white society is also sustained by widespread racist attitudes that exclude minorities from white clubs and social circles where networks leading to jobs are formed. Even mild unconscious racial prejudice tends to cut minorities off from relations of friendship and intimacy with whites. (D. Keith Denton, 1992). Recruitment and retention by personal connections also tends to keep minorities at the bottom of the occupational ladder. Because individuals often hear of openings in their own kind of work, they tend to funnel such information to relatives and acquaintances. Thus both black and white workers informally recruit to their types of jobs. Because minorities are disproportionately represented in bottom level positions, their personal recruitment tends to maintain occupational segregation. Continued perception of minorities in menial, undesirable jobs reinforces the racist conception that minorities belong there. Thus, although selection by personal connections is intrinsically free of bias, its ties to overt racism--past, present, and future--justify characterization of its adverse impact on minorities as racist impact. Although black-white inequality of educational attainment has been substantially reduced in some respects, such as in the amount of schooling received and the level of reading, nevertheless requirements for a college diploma and for adequate test scores continue to exclude minorities from employment and from postgraduate schools that provide training for desirable positions. Similarly, requirements for certain work experience and vague personality traits have a negative impact in employment. Overt racism, especially in its contribution to segregating minorities from whites throughout society, makes a significant contribution to the racist impact of qualification requirements on minorities. Millions of black persons still in the labor force today attended legally segregated public schools in seventeen southern states and the District of Columbia, where a presumption of black inferiority--destructive to their self-confidence--was pervasive, and where, because of gross discrimination in funding, black schools were invariably inferior. Many minorities are excluded by requirements for work experience because as students they had been barred from white schools where relevant training was available or had been denied work experience and training by prejudiced supervisors and employers. (Cheryl Holcomb-Mccoy, Carla Bradley, 2003) Overt housing discrimination affecting all economic classes of minorities works indirectly to reduce the achievement of black youngsters by contributing to the significant racial segregation of neighborhood schools. The positive effect of socialization within white families on black children's test scores is indicated in a comparative study of black children adopted by middle-class parents, white and black. The children adopted by white middle-class parents scored significantly higher on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children than did the children adopted by black middle-class parents. The scoring difference is of the magnitude "typically found between the average scores of black and white children." Our Customers Often Tell Us: How much do I have to pay someone to make my assignment today? Essay writers suggest: Academic Papers For Students Collage Papers For Sale Professional Writer For Hire Custom Writing Service Professional Academic Writing Services The racist impact of qualification requirements in employment is the terminus of a cumulative impact that begins in school. Black students are vulnerable to traditional practices such as standardized testing and tracking--that is, ability grouping in schools--which place them disproportionately at the bottom level, sometimes at a very early age, where, deprived of educational resources and instruction in higher-order skills, they have little possibility of moving up. In the job market the vulnerability of minorities to qualification requirements is exacerbated when employers insist on credentials such as higher-education diplomas that are not related to work performance. Such requirements have had a severe effect on black employment. Irrelevant testing excluded minorities even from such dead-end work as dishwashing. An important race-neutral qualification standard in the academic marketplace is published research. Taking Harvard University as an example, sociologist Thomas Pettigrew shows how this requirement adversely affects black candidates. In the 1930s, Harvard developed criteria for tenured faculty appointment, which included scholarly publication. The purpose was to ensure a faculty of high quality. Publication requirements, however, worked against the recruitment of black professors because the majority taught heavy course loads in predominantly black colleges, which limited their time for research and writing. This concentration of minorities in predominantly black colleges has links to a racist past, because black academics were initially excluded by racist attitudes from many white departments. Hence in the 1970s, when some predominantly white universities following affirmative action requirements sought black professors, black college faculty were less able to fill their race-neutral publication requirements. (Gregory B. Lewis, Samantha L. Durst, 1995). Although qualification requirements are intrinsically bias-free, they can be manipulated by racist employers and union officials to exclude minorities. Thus while some employers who set irrelevant higher education requirements may simply have undue reverence for diplomas, many are not unhappy that their requirements tend to keep minorities out. According to one legal scholar, raising qualification criteria has been a "common device of employers and construction unions" when, because of civil rights law, hiring and promotion of minorities appeared likely. Vague subjective standards, such as "fitting in," "personality," "vigor," and "self-confidence"--widely used for promotion-easily serve racial prejudice. In Rowe v. General Motors Co., the court stated that promotion procedures that depend on "subjective evaluation" by immediate supervisors are a "ready mechanism" for covert race discrimination. The court expressed skepticism that minorities, dependent on whites for decisive recommendation, can expect impartiality. Seniority status determines promotion, layoff, and job termination for vast numbers of employees: professionals, managers, clericals, skilled, and unskilled workers. Seniority systems have brought significant benefits to American workers. Promotion based on seniority enables harmony, cooperation, and solidarity to replace an ugly scramble for advancement over one's co-workers. Seniority-determined layoff protects workers against arbitrary dismissal due to an employer's whim, malice, or prejudice. Strengthened by such security, many workers have gained in dignity and self-esteem and are less tempted to pander to supervisors or accept humiliating conditions. An older auto worker told me that before the union had negotiated a seniority system his supervisor would invite subordinates over on Sunday to mow his lawn. With the protection of a seniority system, workers can demand to be treated with a measure of respect. Egalitarian philosophers, that is, those committed to equal economic rew ard, may note that seniority-based benefit systems constitute a significant egalitarian substructure in the hierarchy of employment. Insofar as seniority determines promotion, pay, and job security, protected employees tend to gain equally throughout their working lives. But seniority, in itself race-neutral, has disproportionately benefited white workers. Hired in most cases ahead of minorities, whites halve enjoyed higher seniority status. Minorities felt the racist impact of such past hiring discrimination when, as less senior, they were less likely to gain promotion and more likely to lose their jobs in economic recessions. In the 1970s minorities, hired under affirmative action programs in private and public employment (e.g., as teachers, police, and firefighters), were devastated by seniority-based layoffs--a consequence of three recessions and severe government budget cutbacks. Such layoffs threaten minorities again in the 1990s. As job losers, minorities tend to move down to unskilled temporary work or to no work at all. This downward move is facilitated by their lack of significant financial assets, which often makes job retraining unfeasible. Whites have eleven times the wealth of minorities; one-third of all minorities have no major assets whatsoever except for cash on hand. Thus seniority-based layoffs of minorities, including those hired because of affirmative action programs, increases the concentration of minorities at the bottom of the occupational ladder or among the unemployed, thereby reinforcing the racist stereotype of minorities as inferior. Although long-term black employees have the benefit of high seniority ranking, after the 1964 Civil Rights Act many continued to suffer the racist impact of departmental seniority arrangements. Under such arrangements, a worker who transfers from one department to another loses all seniority credit. Although departmental seniority is a race-neutral practice, it perpetuates the victimizing effect of past overtly racist job assignment. Newly hired minorities in northern and southern plants had traditionally been assigned to segregated departments where they labored in the most undesirable, low-paying jobs, for example, at garbage disposal, the blast furnaces and the coke ovens, and in the foundries. After the 1964 Civil Rights Act, black workers could no longer be legally prevented from transfer to the better, white departments. But under departmental seniority arrangements, transfers were stripped of all seniority, and so they descended to the bottom rung for promotion and layoff. Thu s minorities naturally tended to remain in the racially segregated departments, where they had originally been assigned by biased company supervisors. (Willie Brisco, Charlotte Forh, Vic Haynes, Barbara Wheeler, 2004) Today, while some minorities have moved on up, it is still true that the more disagreeable the job, the greater the chance of finding a high proportion of minorities doing it. The racially exclusionary impact of race-neutral policies on employment also contributes to the official black unemployment rate as perpetually double that of whites, thereby reinforcing the racist view of minorities as unwilling to work. Thus these race neutral policies function as social mechanisms through which the victimizing effects of overt racism, past and present, continue to keep minorities at the bottom levels of employment. Learn more: Cyber BullyingOccupational Safety and Health AdministrationThe Roles and Barriers of Curriculum Leaders References: Cheryl Holcomb-Mccoy, Carla Bradley (2003). Recruitment and Retention of Ethnic Minority Counselor Educators: An Exploratory Study of CACREP-Accredited Counseling Programs; Counselor Education and Supervision, Vol. 42 D. Keith Denton (1992). Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Relations: Field-Tested Strategies for the '90s; Quorum Books Dana Y. Takagi (1992). The Retreat from Race: Asian-American Admissions and Racial Politics; Rutgers University Press Gregory B. Lewis, Samantha L. Durst (1995). Will Locality Pay Solve Recruitment and Retention Problems in the Federal Civil Service? Public Administration Review, Vol. 55 Willie Brisco, Charlotte Forh, Vic Haynes, Barbara Wheeler (2004). Minority Recruitment: For the 21st Century; Corrections Today, Vol. 66, August

Overview of the Independent American Party

Overview of the Independent American Party The Independent American Party is a minor Constitution-based party with limited influence, and is not to be confused with the large percentage of voters who consider themselves independents. The most recent electoral activity for the party was a 2012 US Senate race in New Mexico where the IAP candidate received just under 4% of the vote. That candidate, John Barrie, was also the founder of the New Mexico chapter of the American Independent Party. After formally registering the party, they were granted direct ballot access for two election cycles. After he lost the Senate race, Barrie left the NM-IAP and joined the similar Constitution Party, likely because the IAP would be unable to gain ballot access after the freebies. The party website currently directs potential candidates to register as write-in candidates if they live in the state of Utah. The partys Facebook page is dedicated to sharing news links about constitutional issues and has limited information on party-related events. The party likely attracts a number of curious visitors due to having independent in the name of their party. The National Chairman is Kelly Gneiting, a 5-time US champion sumo wrestler who also holds a Guinness World Record for being the heaviest man to finish a marathon. Mission Statement To promote: respect for life, liberty and property; strong traditional families; patriotism; and individual, state and national sovereignty - with a strong reliance on the Declaration of Independence and allegiance to the Constitution for the United States of America - by petition to God and by political and educational means. History Founded in 1998, the IAP is a Protestant Christian theocratic political party. It initially existed in several Western states and is a remnant of former Alabama Gov. George Wallaces once-powerful American Independent Party. Converting the unaffiliated IAP state party organizations - united by a common Religious Right ideology (similar to the Constitution Party) - into a national IAP organization was an effort started by members of Utah IAP. The Idaho IAP and Nevada IAP subsequently affiliated with the fledgling US-IAP in late 1998. The party subsequently established small chapters in 15 other states, and it now has contacts in every other state. Most of the IAP activities remain in Utah, however. In 1996 and 2000, the various IAP state parties endorsed the Constitution Party nominee for president and in 2000, the national chairman questioned the IAPs future in presidential elections. The party has focused its attention more on activism in the last eight years and has almost completely withdrawn from fielding local, state or federal candidates. Since 2002, the IAP has endorsed Constitution Party candidates and other conservative third party nominees. The IAPs platform calls for: The immediate termination of all programs of foreign aid, whether military or non-military, to all foreign governmentsImmediate withdrawal from the UN and NatoThe repeal of all federal gun legislation and state firearm laws which are not in accordance with the US ConstitutionStrong immigration reform including the repeal of amnesty laws and the prompt deportation of all illegal aliens and a clarification of the 14th Amendment that does not recognize the US citizenship of children born to illegal immigrants on US soilEnglish as America’s official languageThe passage of a balanced budget amendmentRaising tariffs on imported goods and a ban on all imported goods produced by child laborProtecting the ocean and fishing rightsEliminate regulations that artificially impede the production of domestic oil while enacting a transition to alternative fuelsProtecting the right to life for all US citizens, including the unbornPeople have the right to choose their health care providers and h ave quality health care and no one - including the patient - has the right to make decisions that result in the death of the patient Outlawing cloning and the development of genetic mutationsParents have the right to choose how their children are educatedRestoration of god to the public squareMarriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman only

Prehistoric Life During the Miocene Epoch

Prehistoric Life During the Miocene Epoch The Miocene epoch marks the stretch of geologic time when prehistoric life (with some notable exceptions in South America and Australia) substantially resembled the flora and fauna of recent history, due in part to the long-term cooling of the earths climate. The Miocene was the first epoch of the Neogene period (23-2.5 million years ago), followed by the much shorter Pliocene epoch (5-2.6 million years ago); both the Neogene and Miocene are themselves subdivisions of the Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago to the present). Climate and Geography As during the preceding Eocene and Oligocene epochs, the Miocene epoch witnessed a continuing cooling trend in the earths climate, as global weather and temperature conditions approached their modern patterns. All of the continents had long since separated, though the Mediterranean Sea remained dry for millions of years (effectively joining Africa and Eurasia) and South America was still completely cut off from North America. The most significant geographic event of the Miocene epoch was the slow collision of the Indian subcontinent with the underside of Eurasia, causing the gradual formation of the Himalayan mountain range. Terrestrial Life During the Miocene Epoch Mammals. There were a few notable trends in mammalian evolution during the Miocene epoch. The prehistoric horses of North America took advantage of the spread of open grasslands and began to evolve toward their modern form; transitional genera included Hypohippus, Merychippus and Hipparion (oddly enough, Miohippus, the Miocene horse, actually lived during the Oligocene epoch!) At the same time, various animal groups - including prehistoric dogs, camels, and deer - became well-established, to the point that a time traveler to the Miocene epoch, encountering a proto-canine like Tomarctus, would immediately recognize what type of mammal she was dealing with. Perhaps most significantly, from the perspective of modern humans, the Miocene epoch was the golden age of apes and hominids. These prehistoric primates mostly lived in Africa and Eurasia, and included such important transitional genera as Gigantopithecus, Dryopithecus, and Sivapithecus. Unfortunately, apes and hominids (which walked with a more upright posture) were so thick on the ground during the Miocene epoch that paleontologists have yet to sort out their exact evolutionary relationships, both to each other and to modern Homo sapiens. Birds. Some truly enormous flying birds lived during the Miocene epoch, including the South American Argentavis (which had a wingspan of 25 feet and may have weighed as much as 200 pounds); the slightly smaller (only 75 pounds!) Pelagornis, which had a worldwide distribution; and the 50-pound, sea-going Osteodontornis of North America and Eurasia. All of the other modern bird families had pretty much been established by this time, although various genera were a bit larger than you might expect (penguins being the most notable examples). Reptiles. Although snakes, turtles, and lizards continued to diversify, the Miocene epoch was most notable for its gigantic crocodiles, which were nearly as impressive as the plus-sized genera of the Cretaceous period. Among the most important examples were Purussaurus, a South American caiman, Quinkana, an Australian crocodile, and the Indian Rhamphosuchus, which may have weighed as much as two or three tons. Marine Life During the Miocene Epoch Pinnipeds (the mammalian family that includes seals and walruses) first came into prominence at the end of the Oligocene epoch, and prehistoric genera like Potamotherium and Enaliarctos went on to colonize the rivers of the Miocene. Prehistoric whales - including the gigantic, carnivorous sperm whale ancestor Leviathan and the sleek, gray cetacean Cetotherium - could be found in oceans worldwide, alongside enormous prehistoric sharks like the 50-ton Megalodon. The oceans of the Miocene epoch were also home to one of the first identified forebears of modern dolphins, Eurhinodelphis. Plant Life During the Miocene Epoch As mentioned above, grasses continued to run wild during the Miocene epoch, especially in North America, clearing the way for the evolution of fleet-footed horses and deer, as well as more stolid, cud-chewing ruminants. The appearance of new, tougher grasses toward the later Miocene may have been responsible for the sudden disappearance of many megafauna mammals, which were unable to extract sufficient nutrition from their favorite menu item.

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Research Paper - Essay Example Traditionally, these problems were not apparent because tourists were very responsible in helping preserving the pristine nature of places they visit. But today the environment are becoming an eye sore because of exploitation through ecotourism. Wildlife is also threatened. Reasons for this could be poor management so that the environment and wildlife are not conserved. Ecoutourism became a form of business rather than appreciation of nature. Thus, most often it hastens the decline of natural resources and causes the imbalance of environmental ecology as a result of some extinction of fauna brought about by extensive tourism. Modern ecotourism should be transformed from its current state to the position where it contributes to ecological preservation, nature protection, and social responsibility. (Make sure you describe the problem fully in introduction. I think the problem was fully described. Besides I will be going beyond 5 pages if I will revise the introduction. I even went beyo nd the number of word count required in your paper)(he said to me need more describe so you can change some words by another words which is more value of describe) Ecotourism is believed to contribute to ecological preservation. This had been observed in the case of turtle based ecotourism at Mon Repos Beach just near Bundaberg, Australia (Tisdell, Clem & Wilson, Clevo, 1). The development of turtle based ecotourism contributed positively in its preservation. It was even adopted by other countries like Sri Lanka as their â€Å"come on† tourist attraction. Observation also reveals that when people are interested in certain place, the more that the host communities are going to exert effort to preserve its natural beauty. An example of this is the Great Wall of China. Ever since it attracted tourist from all over the world, the Chinese government started to pay particular attention in the maintenance of the wall as well as planting

Individual Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 1

Individual Report - Essay Example This has resulted in building up of largest customer base in Australia with a very high brand recall and brand loyalty in market. With this high level of growth, customer base and good cash reserve, company is looking forward for expanding its business. With its long existence in market it has developed a very good insight of customer behavior, expected pattern of security breach and response actions. In its course of business it has to use some gadgets and infrastructure for sensing and monitoring security breaches, which are normally sourced from third party at a cost and which many a times do not meet full requirement of client. With already existing customer base, which is having latent demand for more advanced security appliance as well as high potential new customer base, XYZ Corp has decided to have technological tie up with ABC International, the market leader in US and UK market in Security Appliance, for diversifying into the security appliance sales in Australia. Current portfolio of services offered by XYZ Corp includes uniformed security officers and control rooms manning for office and home security, celebrity security, bodyguards and event and venue crowd controllers. Out of these, office and home security services contribute about 55 percent of its total turn over. It is providing security assessment, planning, execution of security plan and manning of control room at customer premises. Generally control rooms are provisioned at big office premises and residential societies. For individual residential units and small offices only uniformed security guide are provided. In control rooms, CCTV views are available for security personal for all venerable areas as well as central walkie-talkies are also available for communicating with field officers. In case of any breach of security which has gone unnoticed from field

Food and Beverage Services Essay Example for Free

Food and Beverage Services Essay Then the service is done a laid cover on the table. Following are the type of service come under this category: English Service: Often referred to as the Host Service because the host plays an active role in the service. Food is brought on platters by the waiter and is shown to either portions the food into the guest plates directly or portions the food and allows the waiter to serve. For replenishment of guest food the waiter may then take the dishes around for guests to help themselves or be served by the waiter. French Services: It is a very personalized service. Food is brought from the kitchen in dishes nd salvers, which are placed directly on the table. The plates are kept near the dish and the guests help themselves. Silver Service: The table is set for hors doeuvres, soup, main courses and sweet dish in sterling silverware. The food is portioned into silver platters at the kitchen itself, which are placed at the sideboard with burners or hot plates to keep the food warm in the restaurant. Plates are placed before the guest. The waiter then picks the platter from the hot plate and presents the dish to the host for approval. He serves each guest using a service spoon and fork. All food is presented in silver dishes with laborate dressing. American/Plate Service: The American service is a pre-plated service, which means that the food is served into the guests plate in the kitchen itself and brought to the guest. The kitchen predetermines the portion and the accompaniments served with the dish balance the entire presentation in terms of nutrition and color. This type of service is commonly used in a coffee shop where service is required to be fast. Russian Service: An elaborate silver service much on the lines of French service except that the food is portioned and carved by the waiter at the gueridon trolley in he restaurant in full view of the guests. Display and presentation are a major part of this service. The principle involved is to have whole Joints, poultry, game and fish elaborately dressed and garnished, presented to guests and carved and portioned by the waiter. Gueridon Service: This is a service where a dish comes partially prepared from the kitchen to be completed in the restaurant by the waiter or, when a complete meal is cooked at the tableside in the restaurant. The cooking is done on a gueridon trolley, which is a mobile trolley with a gas cylinder and burners. The waiter plays a rominent part, as he is required to fillet, carve, flamb © and prepare the food with showmanship. The waiter has to have considerable dexterity and skill. Snack-bar Service: Tall stools are placed along a counter so that the guest may eat the food at the counter itself. In better establishments, the covers are laid out on the counter its

Diversifying Education for the Better America Essay -- Learning Divers

Diversifying Education for the Better America America has been known to be a melting pot of different people from all kinds of cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. No matter where you go, you are always surrounded by all walks of life and from those people, we have learned a lot. They have helped to shape who we are as Americans and what we stand for. Which is, that we strive and thrive on the cultural differences that are all around us. When the canon fails to include their points of view into our educational system, we suffer greatly. With out being exposed to other cultures and backgrounds, we are depriving ourselves of a richer education, from learning about other cultures and backgrounds. It is a shame that people from other cultures and backgrounds arent able to receive in the education that they would like because they are looked at as people who arent capable of doing so. Many colleges and universities just see immigrants as just that and nothing more. Colleges fail to truely see the desire and passion that is in the immigrants eyes to want to learn. Many of the immigrants that come to America are in search of a better life and a good education, because they cant get those in their homeland. The immigrants, in turn have to struggle through our educational system, that doesnt even acknowledge their points of view. Our educational system is based on the great books, books most of the immigrants who have migrated here know little or nothing about because they werent educated in those great books in the countries where they came from. They are being misjudged on their ability just because of their different cultural background, and in a way, punished for not knowing the great books. In the article: Lives on the Boundar... ... of the fact that everyone in this world deserves the best education that they can get. We also need to realize that everyone has the potential to be who they want to be in life, and to push them away because of social and cutlural differences is very wrong. We are depriving them, but mostly ourselves from learning from other people and becoming more culturally diversified. We should learn to look past these difference and realize that we are all one in the same when it comes to education. We all want the best education possible. Works Cited Hooks, bell. Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education. The Presence of Others. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 95-103. Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary. The Presence of Others. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 111-116.

The Lost Symbol Chapter 12-15

CHAPTER 12 Capitol police chief Trent Anderson had overseen security in the U.S. Capitol Complex for over a decade. A burly, square-chested man with a chiseled face and red hair, he kept his hair cropped in a buzz cut, giving him an air of military authority. He wore a visible sidearm as a warning to anyone foolish enough to question the extent of his authority. Anderson spent the majority of his time coordinating his small army of police officers from a high-tech surveillance center in the basement of the Capitol. Here he oversaw a staff of technicians who watched visual monitors, computer readouts, and a telephone switchboard that kept him in contact with the many security personnel he commanded. This evening had been unusually quiet, and Anderson was pleased. He had been hoping to catch a bit of the Redskins game on the flat-panel television in his office. The game had just kicked off when his intercom buzzed. â€Å"Chief?† Anderson groaned and kept his eyes on the television as he pressed the button. â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"We've got some kind of disturbance in the Rotunda. I've got officers arriving now, but I think you'll want to have a look.† â€Å"Right.† Anderson walked into the security nerve center–a compact, neomodern facility packed with computer monitors. â€Å"What have you got?† The technician was cueing a digital video clip on his monitor. â€Å"Rotunda east balcony camera. Twenty seconds ago.† He played the clip. Anderson watched over the technician's shoulder. The Rotunda was almost deserted today, dotted with just a few tourists. Anderson's trained eye went immediately to the one person who was alone and moving faster than all the others. Shaved head. Green army-surplus jacket. Injured arm in a sling. Slight limp. Slouched posture. Talking on a cell phone. The bald man's footfalls echoed crisply on the audio feed until, suddenly, arriving at the exact center of the Rotunda, he stopped short, ended his phone call, and then knelt down as if to tie his shoe. But instead of tying a shoe, he pulled something out of his sling and set it on the floor. Then he stood up and limped briskly toward the east exit. Anderson eyed the oddly shaped object the man had left behind. What in the world? It was about eight inches tall and standing vertically. Anderson crouched closer to the screen and squinted. That can't be what it looks like! As the bald man hurried off, disappearing through the east portico, a little boy nearby could be heard saying, â€Å"Mommy, that man dropped something.† The boy drifted toward the object but suddenly stopped short. After a long, motionless beat, he pointed and let out a deafening scream. Instantly, the police chief spun and ran for the door, barking orders as he went. â€Å"Radio all points! Find the bald guy with the sling and detain him! NOW!† Dashing out of the security center, he bounded up the treads of the well-worn staircase three at a time. The security feed had shown the bald man with the sling leave the Rotunda via the east portico. The shortest route out of the building would therefore take him through the east-west corridor, which was just ahead. I can head him off. As he reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner, Anderson surveyed the quiet hallway before him. An elderly couple strolled at the far end, hand in hand. Nearby, a blond tourist wearing a blue blazer was reading a guidebook and studying the mosaic ceiling outside the House chamber. â€Å"Excuse me, sir!† Anderson barked, running toward him. â€Å"Have you seen a bald man with a sling on his arm?† The man looked up from his book with a confused expression. â€Å"A bald man with a sling!† Anderson repeated more firmly. â€Å"Have you seen him?† The tourist hesitated and glanced nervously toward the far eastern end of the hallway. â€Å"Uh . . . yes,† he said. â€Å"I think he just ran past me . . . to that staircase over there.† He pointed down the hall. Anderson pulled out his radio and yelled into it. â€Å"All points! The suspect is headed for the southeast exit. Converge!† He stowed the radio and yanked his sidearm from its holster, running toward the exit. Thirty seconds later, at a quiet exit on the east side of the Capitol, the powerfully built blond man in the blue blazer stepped into the damp night air. He smiled, savoring the coolness of the evening. Transformation. It had been so easy. Only a minute ago he had limped quickly out of the Rotunda in an army-surplus coat. Stepping into a darkened alcove, he shed his coat, revealing the blue blazer he wore underneath. Before abandoning his surplus jacket, he pulled a blond wig from the pocket and fit it snugly on his head. Then he stood up straight, pulled a slim Washington guidebook from his blazer, and stepped calmly from the niche with an elegant gait. Transformation. This is my gift. As Mal'akh's mortal legs carried him toward his waiting limousine, he arched his back, standing to his full six-foot-three height and throwing back his shoulders. He inhaled deeply, letting the air fill his lungs. He could feel the wings of the tattooed phoenix on his chest opening wide. If they only knew my power, he thought, gazing out at the city. Tonight my transformation will be complete. Mal'akh had played his cards artfully within the Capitol Building, showing obeisance to all the ancient etiquettes. The ancient invitation has been delivered. If Langdon had not yet grasped his role here tonight, soon he would. CHAPTER 13 For Robert Langdon, the Capitol Rotunda–like St. Peter's Basilica–always had a way of taking him by surprise. Intellectually, he knew the room was so large that the Statue of Liberty could stand comfortably inside it, but somehow the Rotunda always felt larger and more hallowed than he anticipated, as if there were spirits in the air. Tonight, however, there was only chaos. Capitol police officers were sealing the Rotunda while attempting to herd distraught tourists away from the hand. The little boy was still crying. A bright light flashed–a tourist taking a photo of the hand–and several guards immediately detained the man, taking his camera and escorting him off. In the confusion, Langdon felt himself moving forward in a trance, slipping through the crowd, inching closer to the hand. Peter Solomon's severed right hand was standing upright, the flat plane of the detached wrist skewered down onto the spike of a small wooden stand. Three of the fingers were closed in a fist, while the thumb and index finger were fully extended, pointing up toward the soaring dome. â€Å"Everyone back!† an officer called. Langdon was close enough now that he could see dried blood, which had run down from the wrist and coagulated on the wooden base. Postmortem wounds don't bleed . . . which means Peter is alive. Langdon didn't know whether to be relieved or nauseated. Peter's hand was removed while he was alive? Bile rose in his throat. He thought of all the times his dear friend had extended this same hand to shake Langdon's or offer a warm embrace. For several seconds, Langdon felt his mind go blank, like an untuned television set broadcasting only static. The first clear image that broke through was utterly unexpected. A crown . . . and a star. Langdon crouched down, eyeing the tips of Peter's thumb and index finger. Tattoos? Incredibly, the monster who had done this appeared to have tattooed tiny symbols on Peter's fingertips. On the thumb–a crown. On the index finger–a star. This can't be. The two symbols registered instantly in Langdon's mind, amplifying this already horrific scene into something almost otherworldly. These symbols had appeared together many times in history, and always in the same place–on the fingertips of a hand. It was one of the ancient world's most coveted and secretive icons. The Hand of the Mysteries. The icon was rarely seen anymore, but throughout history it had symbolized a powerful call to action. Langdon strained to comprehend the grotesque artifact now before him. Someone crafted the Hand of the Mysteries out of Peter's hand? It was unthinkable. Traditionally, the icon was sculpted in stone or wood or rendered as a drawing. Langdon had never heard of the Hand of the Mysteries being fashioned from actual flesh. The concept was abhorrent. â€Å"Sir?† a guard said behind Langdon. â€Å"Please step back.† Langdon barely heard him. There are other tattoos. Although he could not see the fingertips of the three clenched fingers, Langdon knew these fingertips would bear their own unique markings. That was the tradition. Five symbols in total. Through the millennia, the symbols on the fingertips of the Hand of the Mysteries had never changed . . . nor had the hand's iconic purpose. The hand represents . . . an invitation. Langdon felt a sudden chill as he recalled the words of the man who had brought him here. Professor, tonight you are receiving the invitation of your lifetime. In ancient times, the Hand of the Mysteries actually served as the most coveted invitation on earth. To receive this icon was a sacred summons to join an elite group–those who were said to guard the secret wisdom of all the ages. The invitation not only was a great honor, but it signified that a master believed you were worthy to receive this hidden wisdom. The hand of the master extended to the initiate. â€Å"Sir,† the guard said, putting a firm hand on Langdon's shoulder. â€Å"I need you to back up right now.† â€Å"I know what this means,† Langdon managed. â€Å"I can help you.† â€Å"Now!† the guard said. â€Å"My friend is in trouble. We have to–â€Å" Langdon felt powerful arms pulling him up and leading him away from the hand. He simply let it happen . . . feeling too off balance to protest. A formal invitation had just been delivered. Someone was summoning Langdon to unlock a mystical portal that would unveil a world of ancient mysteries and hidden knowledge. But it was all madness. Delusions of a lunatic. CHAPTER 14 Mal'akh's stretch limousine eased away from the U.S. Capitol, moving eastward down Independence Avenue. A young couple on the sidewalk strained to see through the tinted rear windows, hoping to glimpse a VIP. I'm in front, Mal'akh thought, smiling to himself. Mal'akh loved the feeling of power he got from driving this massive car all alone. None of his other five cars offered him what he needed tonight–the guarantee of privacy. Total privacy. Limousines in this city enjoyed a kind of unspoken immunity. Embassies on wheels. Police officers who worked near Capitol Hill were never certain what power broker they might mistakenly pull over in a limousine, and so most simply chose not to take the chance. As Mal'akh crossed the Anacostia River into Maryland, he could feel himself moving closer to Katherine, pulled onward by destiny's gravity. I am being called to a second task tonight . . . one I had not imagined. Last night, when Peter Solomon told the last of his secrets, Mal'akh had learned of the existence of a secret lab in which Katherine Solomon had performed miracles– staggering breakthroughs that Mal'akh realized would change the world if they were ever made known. Her work will unveil the true nature of all things. For centuries the â€Å"brightest minds† on earth had ignored the ancient sciences, mocking them as ignorant superstitions, arming themselves instead with smug skepticism and dazzling new technologies–tools that led them only further from the truth. Every generation's breakthroughs are proven false by the next generation's technology. And so it had gone through the ages. The more man learned, the more he realized he did not know. For millennia, mankind had wandered in the darkness . . . but now, as had been prophesied, there was a change coming. After hurtling blindly through history, mankind had reached a crossroads. This moment had been predicted long ago, prophesied by the ancient texts, by the primeval calendars, and even by the stars themselves. The date was specific, its arrival imminent. It would be preceded by a brilliant explosion of knowledge . . . a flash of clarity to illuminate the darkness and give mankind a final chance to veer away from the abyss and take the path of wisdom. I have come to obscure the light, Mal'akh thought. This is my role. Fate had linked him to Peter and Katherine Solomon. The breakthroughs Katherine Solomon had made within the SMSC would risk opening floodgates of new thinking, starting a new Renaissance. Katherine's revelations, if made public, would become a catalyst that would inspire mankind to rediscover the knowledge he had lost, empowering him beyond all imagination. Katherine's destiny is to light this torch. Mine is to extinguish it. CHAPTER 15 In total darkness, Katherine Solomon groped for the outer door of her lab. Finding it, she heaved open the lead-lined door and hurried into the small entry room. The journey across the void had taken only ninety seconds, and yet her heart was pounding wildly. After three years, you'd think I'd be used to that. Katherine always felt relieved to escape the blackness of Pod 5 and step into this clean, well-lit space. The â€Å"Cube† was a massive windowless box. Every inch of the interior walls and ceiling was covered with a stiff mesh of titanium-coated lead fiber, giving the impression of a giant cage built inside a cement enclosure. Dividers of frosted Plexiglas separated the space into different compartments–a laboratory, a control room, a mechanical room, a bathroom, and a small research library. Katherine strode briskly into the main lab. The bright and sterile work space glistened with advanced quantitative equipment: paired electro encephalographs, a femtosecond comb, a magneto-optical trap, and quantum-indeterminate electronic noise REGs, more simply known as Random Event Generators. Despite Noetic Science's use of cutting-edge technologies, the discoveries themselves were far more mystical than the cold, high-tech machines that were producing them. The stuff of magic and myth was fast becoming reality as the shocking new data poured in, all of it supporting the basic ideology of Noetic Science–the untapped potential of the human mind. The overall thesis was simple: We have barely scratched the surface of our mental and spiritual capabilities. Experiments at facilities like the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in California and the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR) had categorically proven that human thought, if properly focused, had the ability to affect and change physical mass. Their experiments were no â€Å"spoon-bending† parlor tricks, but rather highly controlled inquiries that all produced the same extraordinary result: our thoughts actually interacted with the physical world, whether or not we knew it, effecting change all the way down to the subatomic realm. Mind over matter. In 2001, in the hours following the horrifying events of September 11, the field of Noetic Science made a quantum leap forward. Four scientists discovered that as the frightened world came together and focused in shared grief on this single tragedy, the outputs of thirty-seven different Random Event Generators around the world suddenly became significantly less random. Somehow, the oneness of this shared experience, the coalescing of millions of minds, had affected the randomizing function of these machines, organizing their outputs and bringing order from chaos. The shocking discovery, it seemed, paralleled the ancient spiritual belief in a â€Å"cosmic consciousness†Ã¢â‚¬â€œa vast coalescing of human intention that was actually capable of interacting with physical matter. Recently, studies in mass meditation and prayer had produced similar results in Random Event Generators, fueling the claim that human consciousness, as Noetic author Lynne McTaggart described it, was a substance outside the confines of the body . . . a highly ordered energy capable of changing the physical world. Katherine had been fascinated by McTaggart's book The Intention Experiment, and her global, Web-based study– theintentionexperiment.com–aimed at discovering how human intention could affect the world. A handful of other progressive texts had also piqued Katherine's interest. From this foundation, Katherine Solomon's research had vaulted forward, proving that â€Å"focused thought† could affect literally anything–the growth rate of plants, the direction that fish swam in a bowl, the manner in which cells divided in a petri dish, the synchronization of separately automated systems, and the chemical reactions in one's own body. Even the crystalline structure of a newly forming solid was rendered mutable by one's mind; Katherine had created beautifully symmetrical ice crystals by sending loving thoughts to a glass of water as it froze. Incredibly, the converse was also true: when she sent negative, polluting thoughts to the water, the ice crystals froze in chaotic, fractured forms. Human thought can literally transform the physical world. As Katherine's experiments grew bolder, her results became more astounding. Her work in this lab had proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that â€Å"mind over matter† was not just some New Age self-help mantra. The mind had the ability to alter the state of matter itself, and, more important, the mind had the power to encourage the physical world to move in a specific direction. We are the masters of our own universe. At the subatomic level, Katherine had shown that particles themselves came in and out of existence based solely on her intention to observe them. In a sense, her desire to see a particle . . . manifested that particle. Heisenberg had hinted at this reality decades ago, and now it had be come a fundamental principle of Noetic Science. In the words of Lynne McTaggart: â€Å"Living consciousness somehow is the influence that turns the possibility of something into something real. The most essential ingredient in creating our universe is the consciousness that observes it.† The most astonishing aspect of Katherine's work, however, had been the realization that the mind's ability to affect the physical world could be augmented through practice. Intention was a learned skill. Like meditation, harnessing the true power of â€Å"thought† required practice. More important . . . some people were born more skilled at it than others. And throughout history, there had been those few who had become true masters. This is the missing link between modern science and ancient mysticism. Katherine had learned this from her brother, Peter, and now, as her thoughts turned back to him, she felt a deepening concern. She walked to the lab's research library and peered in. Empty. The library was a small reading room–two Morris chairs, a wooden table, two floor lamps, and a wall of mahogany bookshelves that held some five hundred books. Katherine and Peter had pooled their favorite texts here, writings on everything from particle physics to ancient mysticism. Their collection had grown into an eclectic fusion of new and old . . . of cutting-edge and historical. Most of Katherine's books bore titles like Quantum Consciousness, The New Physics, and Principles of Neural Science. Her brother's bore older, more esoteric titles like the Kybalion, the Zohar, The Dancing Wu Li Masters, and a translation of the Sumerian tablets from the British Museum. â€Å"The key to our scientific future,† her brother often said, â€Å"is hidden in our past.† A lifelong scholar of history, science, and mysticism, Peter had been the first to encourage Katherine to boost her university science education with an understanding of early Hermetic philosophy. She had been only nineteen years old when Peter sparked her interest in the link between modern science and ancient mysticism. â€Å"So tell me, Kate,† her brother had asked while she was home on vacation during her sophomore year at Yale. â€Å"What are Elis reading these days in theoretical physics?† Katherine had stood in her family's book-filled library and recited her demanding reading list. â€Å"Impressive,† her brother replied. â€Å"Einstein, Bohr, and Hawking are modern geniuses. But are you reading anything older?† Katherine scratched her head. â€Å"You mean like . . . Newton?† He smiled. â€Å"Keep going.† At twenty-seven, Peter had already made a name for himself in the academic world, and he and Katherine had grown to savor this kind of playful intellectual sparring. Older than Newton? Katherine's head now filled with distant names like Ptolemy, Pythagoras, and Hermes Trismegistus. Nobody reads that stuff anymore. Her brother ran a finger down the long shelf of cracked leather bindings and old dusty tomes. â€Å"The scientific wisdom of the ancients was staggering . . . modern physics is only now beginning to comprehend it all.† â€Å"Peter,† she said, â€Å"you already told me that the Egyptians understood levers and pulleys long before Newton, and that the early alchemists did work on a par with modern chemistry, but so what? Today's physics deals with concepts that would have been unimaginable to the ancients.† â€Å"Like what?† â€Å"Well . . . like entanglement theory, for one!† Subatomic research had now proven categorically that all matter was interconnected . . . entangled in a single unified mesh . . . a kind of universal oneness. â€Å"You're telling me the ancients sat around discussing entanglement theory?† â€Å"Absolutely!† Peter said, pushing his long, dark bangs out of his eyes. â€Å"Entanglement was at the core of primeval beliefs. Its names are as old as history itself . . . Dharmakaya, Tao, Brahman. In fact, man's oldest spiritual quest was to perceive his own entanglement, to sense his own interconnection with all things. He has always wanted to become `one' with the universe . . . to achieve the state of `at-one-ment.' † Her brother raised his eyebrows. â€Å"To this day, Jews and Christians still strive for `atonement' . . . although most of us have forgotten it is actually `at- one-ment' we're seeking.† Katherine sighed, having forgotten how hard it was to argue with a man so well versed in history. â€Å"Okay, but you're talking in generalities. I'm talking specific physics.† â€Å"Then be specific.† His keen eyes challenged her now. â€Å"Okay, how about something as simple as polarity–the positive/negative balance of the subatomic realm. Obviously, the ancients didn't underst–â€Å" â€Å"Hold on!† Her brother pulled down a large dusty text, which he dropped loudly on the library table. â€Å"Modern polarity is nothing but the `dual world' described by Krishna here in the Bhagavad Gita over two thousand years ago. A dozen other books in here, including the Kybalion, talk about binary systems and the opposing forces in nature.† Katherine was skeptical. â€Å"Okay, but if we talk about modern discoveries in subatomics–the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, for example–â€Å" â€Å"Then we must look here,† Peter said, striding down his long bookshelf and pulling out another text. â€Å"The sacred Hindu Vendantic scriptures known as the Upanishads.† He dropped the tome heavily on the first. â€Å"Heisenberg and Schrodinger studied this text and credited it with helping them formulate some of their theories.† The showdown continued for several minutes, and the stack of dusty books on the desk grew taller and taller. Finally Katherine threw up her hands in frustration. â€Å"Okay! You made your point, but I want to study cutting-edge theoretical physics. The future of science! I really doubt Krishna or Vyasa had much to say about superstring theory and multidimensional cosmological models.† â€Å"You're right. They didn't.† Her brother paused, a smile crossing his lips. â€Å"If you're talking superstring theory . . .† He wandered over to the bookshelf yet again. â€Å"Then you're talking this book here.† He heaved out a colossal leather-bound book and dropped it with a crash onto the desk. â€Å"Thirteenth-century translation of the original medieval Aramaic.† â€Å"Superstring theory in the thirteenth century?!† Katherine wasn't buying it. â€Å"Come on!† Superstring theory was a brand-new cosmological model. Based on the most recent scientific observations, it suggested the multidimensional universe was made up not of three . . . but rather of ten dimensions, which all interacted like vibrating strings, similar to resonating violin strings. Katherine waited as her brother heaved open the book, ran through the ornately printed table of contents, and then flipped to a spot near the beginning of the book. â€Å"Read this.† He pointed to a faded page of text and diagrams. Dutifully, Katherine studied the page. The translation was old-fashioned and very hard to read, but to her utter amazement, the text and drawings clearly outlined the exact same universe heralded by modern superstring theory–a ten-dimensional universe of resonating strings. As she continued reading, she suddenly gasped and recoiled. â€Å"My God, it even describes how six of the dimensions are entangled and act as one?!† She took a frightened step backward. â€Å"What is this book?!† Her brother grinned. â€Å"Something I'm hoping you'll read one day.† He flipped back to the title page, where an ornately printed plate bore three words. The Complete Zohar. Although Katherine had never read the Zohar, she knew it was the fundamental text of early Jewish mysticism, once believed so potent that it was reserved only for the most erudite rabbis. Katherine eyed the book. â€Å"You're saying the early mystics knew their universe had ten dimensions?† â€Å"Absolutely.† He motioned to the page's illustration of ten intertwined circles called Sephiroth. â€Å"Obviously, the nomenclature is esoteric, but the physics is very advanced.† Katherine didn't know how to respond. â€Å"But . . . then why don't more people study this?† Her brother smiled. â€Å"They will.† â€Å"I don't understand.† â€Å"Katherine, we have been born into wonderful times. A change is coming. Human beings are poised on the threshold of a new age when they will begin turning their eyes back to nature and to the old ways . . . back to the ideas in books like the Zohar and other ancient texts from around the world. Powerful truth has its own gravity and eventually pulls people back to it. There will come a day when modern science begins in earnest to study the wisdom of the ancients . . . that will be the day that mankind begins to find answers to the big questions that still elude him.† That night, Katherine eagerly began reading her brother's ancient texts and quickly came to understand that he was right. The ancients possessed profound scientific wisdom. Today's science was not so much making â€Å"discoveries† as it was making â€Å"rediscoveries.† Mankind, it seemed, had once grasped the true nature of the universe . . . but had let go . . . and forgotten. Modern physics can help us remember! This quest had become Katherine's mission in life–to use advanced science to rediscover the lost wisdom of the ancients. It was more than academic thrill that kept her motivated. Beneath it all was her conviction that the world needed this understanding . . . now more than ever. At the rear of the lab, Katherine saw her brother's white lab coat hanging on its hook along with her own. Reflexively, she pulled out her phone to check for messages. Nothing. A voice echoed again in her memory. That which your brother believes is hidden in D.C. . . . it can be found. Sometimes a legend that endures for centuries . . . endures for a reason. â€Å"No,† Katherine said aloud. â€Å"It can't possibly be real.† Sometimes a legend was just that–a legend.

The Skills Dilemma Skills Under-Utilisation and Low-Wage Work

The Skills Dilemma Skills Under-Utilisation and Low-Wage Work A Bottom Ten Million Research Paper Jonny Wright and Paul Sissons January 2012 Contents 1. Introduction 2. Skills under-utilisation in the UK and low-wage work – the scale of the problem 3. The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisation 4. An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality 5. Conclusions and policy recommendations Appendix I: Under-use of skills in The Work Foundation’s Knowledge Workers Survey 8 11 17 27 32 List of Boxes, Figures and Tables Box 1: Approaches to skills utilisation Box 2: Summary findings: Drivers of skills under-utilisation in low-wage sectors Figure 1: Percentage of employees over and under-skilled, by industry Figure 2: Percentage of employees over and under-skilled, by occupation Figure 3: Employment by occupation in the retail sector and the whole economy Figure 4: Employment by occupation in hospitali ty and the whole economy Table 1: Making bad jobs good 5 23 10 10 18 20 16Acknowledgements This paper is published as part of our Bottom Ten Million research programme. We would like to thank our sponsors – Barrow Cadbury Trust, Private Equity Foundation, The Tudor Trust and Working Links. We would also like to thank the following expert interviewees: Prof. Ewart Keep, Thomas Baum, Dr. Odul Bozkurt, Michelle Irving, Anne Murphy, Aoife Ni Luanaigh, David Fuhr, Bob Butcher, Mike Darby Prof. Irena Grugulis, Katerina Rudiger, Linda McLeod, Marc Robertson, Kate Tetley, Prof. Dennis Nickson.Jonathan Wright has left The Work Foundation, the report does not represent the view of his new employers. This paper is the second in a series of publications as part of The Work Foundation’s new research programme, The Bottom Ten Million, which focuses on the employment prospects of Britain’s low earners between now and 2020 and seeks to identify the priority measures that need t o be taken if they are to share in the sources of growth and prosperity over the next decade. There are ten million people in Britain who currently have annual incomes of less than ? 5,000. The Bottom Ten Million programme is sponsored by Working Links, The Tudor Trust, the Barrow Cadbury Trust and the Private Equity Foundation. 2 The Skills Dilemma 1. Introduction There is a skills dilemma in the UK. Successive governments have focussed on supply-side measures to tackle the UK’s skills problems and to improve the nation’s international economic competitiveness. However, despite increased investment in skills and educational attainment, labour productivity in the UK lags behind other comparator countries. Lord Leitch’s review of skills found that the UK’s relatively poor skills base only accounts for around one fifth of the productivity gap with countries such as Germany and France;2 with the rest mostly attributable to our poor record of ‘investing in physical capital, R&D and infrastructure’, but commentators have also identified the importance of work organisation and job design in boosting productivity. 3 This paper challenges the implicit assumption in much skills policy making that the skills problem lies solely on the supply-side.Supply-side interventions can certainly boost competitiveness and also have an important influence on individual labour market outcomes; however in isolation they have not been sufficient to close the productivity gap with competitor nations. 4 We therefore argue that greater attention needs to be paid to the limited demand for skills. This argument is not new, Wilson and Hogarth advocated this view in the early 2000s,5 however acknowledgement of the issue in policy circles, and progress towards better demand-side policies, has been painfully slow. The UK faces significant skills challenges.The suggestion of demand-side concerns should not be taken as implying that there are not further improvements that can be made in the supply of skills. This is particularly true for the lowest skilled. Whereas the UK ranks 12th for high level skills in the OECD, it is further behind for intermediate level skills (18th) and for low skills (17th). 6 The supply of skills has important implications for the ability of employers to recruit a suitably qualified and skilled workforce. Last year’s national employer skills survey found that 19 per cent of employers were suffering from a skills gap. It is therefore clear that on-going efforts to improve the supply of skills remain important. 8 However, there is a growing body of research arguing that the skills problem is related not only to skills supply but also to poor skills utilisation. For this study we adopt a definition of skills utilisation that captures both the individual, firm level and potential national effects, and which was developed by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) who have recently funded a programme of 12 pr ojects which test different approaches to skills utilisation.CFE (2008) Skills Utilisation Literature Review, Scottish Government Social Research Leitch Review of Skills (2005) Skills in the UK: The long-term challenge HM Treasury 3 Keep, E. , Mayhew, K. and Payne, J. (2006) ‘From Skills Revolution to Productivity Miracle – not as easy as it sounds? ’ Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 22:4. 4 CFE (2008) Skills Utilisation Literature Review, Scottish Government Social Research 5 Wilson, R. and Hogarth, T. (Eds. (2003) Tackling the Low Skills Equilibrium: A Review of Issues and Some New Evidence Department of Trade and Industry 6 UKCES (2010) Ambition 2020 7 UKCES (2009) National Employer Skills Survey 8 Lawton, K. (2009) Nice Work If You Can Get It IPPR 1 2 The Skills Dilemma 3 Introduction Effective skills utilisation is about: †¢ Confident, motivated and relevantly skilled individuals who are aware of the skills they posses and know how to best use them in the workplace. Working in: †¢ Workplaces that provide meaningful and appropriate encouragement, opportunity and support for employees to use their skills effectively.In order to: †¢ Increase performance and productivity, improve job satisfaction and employee well-being, and stimulate investment, enterprise and innovation. Previous research by The Work Foundation has found that between 35 and 45 per cent of employees feel their skills are under-utilised. 9 Other employee surveys such as the UK Skills Survey have reported similar results. Skills under-utilisation is also more prevalent in low-wage sectors. Employer demand for skills is lowest in sectors such as retail and hospitality – those sectors which also employ the most low-wage workers.Skills utilisation matters for the UK economy, for employers and for employees. Firstly, although the UK workforce has become increasingly skilled in recent years, the productivity gap with comparator countries remains. There is a growing body of research that argues that a demand-side approach is needed to help close the gap. Secondly, better skills utilisation matters for employers because it can result in better motivated, confident and productive employees and reduce staff turnover. And lastly, better skills utilisation can make work more satisfying for employees, and improve their prospects for progression. 0 Therefore, failure to understand and address the skills problem appropriately will not only hinder the UK’s long term growth potential but may also dampen social mobility. 9 10 Brinkley, I. et al. (2009) Knowledge Workers and Work The Work Foundation CFE (2008) Skills Utilisation Literature Review Scottish Government Social Research The Skills Dilemma 4 Introduction Box 1: Approaches to skills utilisation One problem inherent in the skills utilisation agenda is that the term ‘skills utilisation’ is subject to a relatively wide variety of definitions.These definitional problems are also exhibited in practical skills utilisation policies, with the early evaluation evidence from Scotland suggesting a number of pilot projects leaned quite heavily towards the supply-side of skills. There are also a number of different approaches to skills utilisation – these have been grouped as market-driven, state-driven and holistic (see table below). These approaches differ in their focus, main drivers and models of delivery as well as in their intended outcomes.The following table provides an overview of some of these differences regarding both their implementation and impact: Implementation of approaches Market driven Focus Driver Model Organisation Business performance HPW Learning transfer Leadership and management Employee trust State driven Organisation National productivity National strategy Workplace projects Buy-in – employers, employees Holistic Industry/National National prosperity National strategy (combining acquisition and utilisation) Stakehold er engagement Sector wide projects FundEnablers Impact of approaches Market driven Take up Outcomes – economic Low Profit Sales Productivity Job satisfaction Staff retention/motivation Work intensification Employee buy-in State driven No evidence Productivity Holistic No evidence Use of resources Improved innovation Improved collaboration Outcomes – social Well-being Working conditions Equality and diversity Buy-in Dissemination Limitations Broad approach MeasurementS (Source: CFE, 2008)Generally speaking skills utilisation is presented as a positive concept, although some commentators viewing the concept in its broadest sense also argue that management practices aimed at deliberately limiting the use of employees skills can also be examples of skills utilisation. The challenges faced by low-wage workers – including the under-utilisation of skills in low-skill low-wage sectors – are driven by multiple factors. There are forces both inside and outside of t he workplace that shape under-utilisation outcomes. The skills ecosystem captures the context in which skills are developed and used.It includes the business setting, the institutional and policy frameworks (skill and The Skills Dilemma 5 Introduction non-skill based), the modes of engaging and contracting labour (such as labour hire arrangements) and the structure of jobs (for example job design and work organisation). 11 Initiatives to improve skills utilisation have been undertaken in Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and also Scotland – where the Skills Strategy makes a commitment to ‘improving the skills and employability of individuals and creating high skill, high productivity, healthy workplaces where this talent can be best used’. 2 But there is no established policy response in England. Changes in the structure of the labour market in recent years have placed new pressures on lowwage workers. The labour market has become increasingly polarised into l ow-wage, low-skill jobs and high-wage, high skills jobs; and the recession has accelerated this structural change. 13 We also know that progression from low-wage work is often quite poor. Furthermore it is forecast that there will not be significantly fewer low-wage jobs in the UK by 2020, yet there will be relatively few adults in the labour market with no qualifications. 4 Brockmann, Clarke and Winch have also identified there is a cultural difference between how work is conceived in the UK and overseas. 15 In comparator countries progression is an integral aspect of any occupation, and the floor of minimum training required is often much higher. This incentivises employers to maximise the productivity of its workforce through job design – to cover training costs. Conversely, the UK jobs market is increasingly characterised by a long ‘tail’ of low-wage work,16 with limited opportunities to progress.A recent review of international skills policy has identified t hree main approaches to tackling skills under-utilisation – market driven, state driven, and holistic. 17 In countries such as Finland and Ireland the state has played a leading role; establishing a policy framework to encourage organisations to maximise skills utilisation. Other countries have taken a more holistic approach involving employers, employees, learning providers and the state †¦ to achieve industry wide and national impacts on productivity. 18 The Skills Ecosystem Project in Australia is an example of a holistic approach.High performance working, which has been the central plank of the English response to employer skills use, is a market driven approach which includes activities in the areas of human resource management, Buchanan, J. et al. (2010), Skills demand and utilisation: An international review of approaches to measurement and policy development OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Working Papers, 2010 12 Skills for Scotland at http://www. scotland. gov. uk/Resource/Doc/326739/0105315. pdf accessed on 22 November 2010 p. 7 13 Sissons, P. 2011) The Hourglass and the Escalator: Labour market change and mobility The Work Foundation 14 Lawton, K. (2009) Nice Work If You Can Get It IPPR 15 Brockmann, M. , Clarke, L. and Winch, C. (2011) European Skills and Qualifications: Towards a European Labour Market Routledge 16 Clayton, N. and Brinkley, I. (2011) Welfare to What? Prospects and challenges for employment recovery, The Work Foundation 17 CFE (2008) Skills Utilisation Literature Review, Scottish Government Social Research 18 CFE (2008) Skills Utilisation Literature Review, Scottish Government Social Research 11 The Skills Dilemma Introduction work organisation, management and leadership, and organisational development. Although, less than a third of organisations in the UK take a HPW approach (2008 Employer skills survey). 19 This paper In this paper we analyse skill utilisation in two sectors in the UK economy – hospitality and retail – which employ a relatively high proportion of the low-earners and which exhibit high levels of skills underutilisation compared to other sectors. We focus on the following questions: 1.What are the main drivers of skills under-utilisation in low-wage sectors in the UK? 2. What can and should be done to address skills under-utilisation in low-wage sectors in the UK? The paper also draws on examples of skills utilisation best practice in comparator countries before developing a set of policy recommendations for UK policy makers and employers. The research method involved both a review of the existing literature on skills utilisation and how this applies to the case study examples as well as undertaking 15 expert interviews.These interviews covered a range of actors including academic experts, Unions, Sector Skills Councils, employer and trade bodies, and central government. The Skills Dilemma builds on our existing Bottom Ten Million evidence base. The p aper aims to highlight the role that improved utilisation can play in generating better work outcomes for the Bottom Ten Million and to raise awareness of skills under-utilisation in England. Better skills utilisation also has the potential to generate higher productivity levels for businesses and to bring about benefits for the wider economy.The paper is structured as follows: †¢ †¢ †¢ Section 2 outlines the scale of the problem in the UK; Section 3 examines the barriers to improving low-wage work and the role of skills utilisation; Section 4 explores the drivers of skills under-utilisation and barriers to better skills utilisation in two low-wage industrial sectors: Hospitality; Retail; †¢ ? ? Section 5 summarises our findings and sets out a series of policy recommendations. 19 UKCES, High Performance Working The Skills Dilemma 7 2. Skills under-utilisation in the UK and low-wage work – the scale of the problemWhile there is growing evidence that under-u tilisation of skills by employers is an issue, there is no established definition of skills utilisation. This makes measuring the issue problematic. In part this reflects the insufficient understanding or awareness of the problem in government and amongst employers (especially in England), when compared to supply-side challenges such as skills shortages and skills gaps. As such, policy makers have not sufficiently recognised the importance of demand-side measures such as improved work organisation practices and job design in delivering skills improvements.This is despite there being take-up of this policy agenda in other countries, including Scotland. Progress on skills has traditionally been measured using qualifications across the workforce; but this ‘does not take account of the skills which people acquire through non formal; and informal learning both at work and within their wider lives’. 20 Qualifications are only one measure of skills in the workforce – a more comprehensive understanding takes into consideration the three logics of skill:21 †¢ Behavioural: ‘the personal qualities of the worker to deal with interpersonal relationships’; Cognitive: ‘level and kind of education and training undertaken by the population to help it understand and act in the world’; †¢ Technical: ‘the capacity to undertake particular set tasks. ’ Any attempt to measure skills under-utilisation must therefore take into account this holistic understanding of skills; different types of skills are utilised and under-utilised in different workplaces.The scale of the problem in the UK There is a significant body of evidence demonstrating that the UK lags behind comparator countries in terms of the quality of skills in the workplace. Whereas the UK ranks 12th for high level skills in the OECD, it is further behind for intermediate level skills (18th) and for low level skills (17th). 22 This has resulted in some ski lls gaps and skills shortages for UK employers, with the 2009 National Employer Skills Survey finding that 19 per cent of establishments reported a skills gap among their employees. 3 However there is a growing body of research (both from this country and abroad) that argues that the skills problem is related not only to skills supply but also to weak demand for skills and poor skills utilisation. The term Low Skills Equilibrium was coined in 1988 by Finegold and Soskice (and subsequently developed by academics such as Ewart Keep) to describe what they saw as a ‘systems failure’ in the British economy; an economy characterised by low-wages and with a relatively high proportion of low specification companies in which demand for high level skills is relatively low. 0 Payne, J. (2010) Skills Utilisation: towards a measurement and evaluation framework SKOPE Research Paper No. 93 21 Buchanan et al. (2010), Skills demand and utilisation: An international review of approaches to measurement and policy development’, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Working Papers, 2010 22 UKCES (2010) Ambition 2020 23 Wright, J. , Clayton, N. and Brinkley, I. (2010) Employability and Skills in the UK, The Work Foundation 8 The Skills Dilemma Skills under-utilisation in the UK and low-wage work – the scale of the problemFelstead et al. have pointed out that ‘whilst a relative balance of skills demand and supply exists for those jobs requiring high level qualifications, an aggregate imbalance exists for those requiring intermediate and no qualifications’. 24 In a study of Skills at Work between 1986 and 2006 it has been shown that the number of people in the workforce with no qualifications has fallen far faster than the number of jobs requiring no qualifications (the number of people with no qualifications fell by 5. million between 1986 and 2006; whilst the number of jobs requiring no qualifications for entry fell by 1. 2 million). The result has been a growing mismatch between individuals with no qualifications and jobs which require no qualification requirements. 25 The most useful data on skills under-utilisation however comes from employees themselves. 26 A body of evidence suggests that skills under-utilisation affects a higher proportion of the UK workforce than does skills gaps or skills shortages.A study by The Work Foundation in 2009 found that between 35 and 45 per cent of employees felt that their skills were under-utilised. 27 Furthermore, skills under-utilisation is more prevalent amongst people in jobs requiring some or little knowledge content; 36 per cent of knowledge workers reported that their jobs under-utilised their skills compared to 44 per cent in jobs with some or little knowledge content.Moreover, the UK Skills Survey found that the proportion of employees reporting that they are ‘over skilled’ is highest in the low-skill/low-pay sectors and occupations; with over 55 per cent of people working in the hotels and catering industry reporting being over skilled compared to approximately 20 per cent in finance; over 60 per cent of workers in elementary level jobs reported being over skilled compared to less than 20 per cent in managerial positions (see Figures 1 and 2 below). The UK skills survey also suggests that the skills under-utilisation problem is getting worse over time.The percentage of employees reporting high levels of discretion at work – jobs which are likely ‘to make better use of employees’ judgement and skill’ – dropped from 57 per cent in 1992 to 43 per cent in 2001, and remained at this level in 2006. 28 Despite this, there is limited public awareness of the issue in England and skills utilisation does not feature heavily in skills policy. But there are examples elsewhere of how skills utilisation policies can be effectively built, and can benefit both employees and firms.England is relatively isolated in having largely ignored the importance of work organisation and job design in delivering skills improvements. In a number of other European countries, government workplace organisation initiatives have been implemented to improve job quality and enhance productivity. 29 Countries which have pursued these policies include the Nordic states, Germany and Ireland. 30 Buchanan et a. l (2010), Skills demand and utilisation: An international review of approaches to measurement and policy development’, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Working Papers, 2010 25 Felstead, A. Gallie, D. , Green, F. and Zhou, Y. (2007) Skills at Work, 1986-2006 26 Payne, J. (2010) Skills Utilisation: towards a measurement and evaluation framework SKOPE Research Paper No. 93 27 Brinkley et al. (2009) Knowledge Workers and Work, The Work Foundation 28 Felstead, A. , Gallie, D. , Green, F. and Zhou, Y. (2007) Skills at Work, 1986-2006 29 Keep, E. , Mayhew, K. and Payne, J. 2006. ‘From Sk ills Revolution to Productivity Miracle – Not As Easy As It Looks? ’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy 22:4, pp539-559 30 Ibid 24 The Skills Dilemma 9Skills under-utilisation in the UK and low-wage work – the scale of the problem Figure 1: Percentage of employees over and under-skilled, by industry 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Over-skilled Under-skilled % na nc Ed e uc at i El o n ec tri ca l He Co al th ns tru Pu ct io bl n ic ad m in Ag . ric M in ul in tu g re /fi sh Re in g O al th es er ta co te m m M an uni ty uf W ac ho tu r le sa ing Tr le/r e an sp tail or Ho ta te tio ls/ n ca te rin g Fi Source: 2001 UK Skills Survey Figure 2: Percentage of employees over and under-skilled, by occupation 70 60 50 40 % 30 20 10 0 Over-skilled Under-skilled n ag Pr er of s es sio As na s. ls Pr of . /t ec h. Se cr et ar Sk ia ille l d Pe tra rs de on s al se rv ice s Sa le s es s an to Pl Source: 2001 UK Skills Survey 10 El em en ta ry M pe ra tiv oc c’ Al l Al l The Skil ls Dilemma 3. The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisation Low-wage workers face a number of distinctive challenges in the labour market. For example low-paid/ low-skilled workplaces tend to have few development and progression opportunities, worse HR practices and higher staff turnover. 1 In this chapter we discuss the wider challenges faced in improving lowwage work, and we consider the role which skills utilisation policies can play in this. Skills utilisation is certainty not a ‘magic bullet’ to resolve all the challenges faced in improving the lot of low-wage workers. Improving skills utilisation is potentially a useful strategy in generating better work outcomes; however to fundamentally address the issues faced by low-wage earners, it must be part of a broader suite of measures. There are a number of primary drivers which serve to make things challenging for low-wage workers, these include: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The s tructure of the labour market and the types of jobs that are growing and declining; The poor conception of work in low-wage sectors; The corporate strategies adopted by firms in low-wage paying industries which often compete on cost rather than quality; The forms of work organisation and management techniques adopted by low-wage employers; The weak career and wage progression that is often experienced by people at the bottom of the labour market; Wage inequality and the level of the National Minimum Wage.The primary focus of research in this paper is on the third and fourth bullets, which are concerned with employer demand for skills and how well employers utilise the skills of their workforce. However, in this chapter we also discuss the issues raised by the other bullets, which skills utilisation policies would not directly address.The changing structure of the UK labour market During the past few decades the UK economy has undergone a structural change, with the economy increasin gly based on knowledge, rather than routine production, and with new jobs created in large numbers in high-skill/high-wage professional and managerial occupations. However this growth in jobs at the top is not the entire story.Evidence shows that over the last 25 years the labour market has become increasingly hollowed-out, as middle wage/middle skill jobs have been lost in significant numbers; and this trend accelerated noticeably during the recent recession. 32 There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that labour markets in a number of developed countries are becoming increasingly polarised into ‘lovely’ and ‘lousy’ jobs. 33 There are several explanations for this trend: Newton, B. , Miller, L. , Bates, P. , Page, R. nd Akroyd, K. (2006) Learning Through Work: Literacy, language, numeracy and IT skills development in low-paid, low-skilled workplaces Institute for Employment Studies: Report 433 32 Sissons, P. (2011) The Hourglass and the Escalato r: Labour market change and mobility The Work Foundation 33 Goos, M. and Manning, A. (2003) Lousy and lovely jobs: the rising polarization of work in Britain CEP Working Paper 31 The Skills Dilemma 11 The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisation †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢Technological change and the automation of routine jobs;34 Globalisation and off-shoring of semi-skilled production jobs has reduced demand for some groups of workers;35 Growth in high-skill occupations can in itself increase the demand for lower level jobs, particularly in private personal services;36 Other socio-demographic trends, for example those associated with increasing female participation in the labour market and the aging population, have also increased the demand for some personal service occupations. 37One implication of a more polarised job market is that it can have direct implications for employment and earnings mobility, as individuals can become trapped in poor qual ity, low-paid work. More generally, the labour market trends clearly show there remains significant numbers of jobs which have low qualifications requirements, and also have relatively low utilisation of skills. These jobs appear to be an enduring feature of the UK labour market, and it is therefore pertinent to explore what can be done to ameliorate the effects for individuals within these jobs.Corporate strategy and the organisation of low-wage work The central barrier to improving skills utilisation is employer demand for skills. This demand tends to be relatively weak in a number of sectors as a result of firms corporate strategies and their models of work organisation. Policy makers work under the assumption that skill acquisition is a good thing, however increased skills need to be effectively utilised within firms, and this is often not the case. 8 Therefore demand-side strategies are fundamental in order to address skills utilisation, as Keep argues:39 instead of assuming th at the key to the desired ‘skills revolution’ is the supply of more skills, concentrate on stimulating demand for higher levels of skill, through seeking to upgrade product market strategies, enhance product and service quality and specification, and re-design jobs and work organisation so as to minimise dead end, low-skill jobs and maximise the opportunities for the entire workforce to both acquire and utilise higher levels of learning and skill. Goos, M. , Manning, A. nd Salomons, A. (2010) Explaining job polarization in Europe: The roles of technology, globalization and institutions CEP Discussion Paper No. 1026; Goos, M. and Manning, A. (2003) Lousy and lovely jobs: the rising polarization of work in Britain CEP Working Paper; Autor, D. , Levy, F. and Murnane, R. (2003) ‘The skill-content of recent technological change: An empirical investigation’ Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol 188, pp1279-1333; Autor, D. , Katz, L. and Kearney, M. (2006) ‘Me asuring and interpreting trends in economic inequality’ AEA Papers and Proceedings 96:2; Autor, D. and Dorn, D. 2009) Inequality and specialization: The growth of lowskill service jobs in the United States IZA Discussion Paper No. 4290 35 OECD (2011) Growing income inequality in OECD countries: What drives it and how can policy tackle it? OECD, Paris 36 CEDEFOP (2011) Labour market polarization and elementary occupations in Europe: Blip or long-term trend? CEDEFOP Research Paper No. 9 37 Ibid 38 Keep, E. (2000) Learning organisation, lifelong learning and the mystery of the vanishing employers SKOPE Research Paper Number 8 39 Ibid 34 12 The Skills Dilemma The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisationKeep, Mayhew and Payne also make the case that the public policy focus and expenditure on the skills supply-side alone is likely to have only a muted impact if similar attention is not focused on employer demand for skills:40 while there are numerous exp ensive public programmes aimed at enhancing the skills of the future and existing workforce, there is no parallel effort aimed at work organization and job redesign. The central cause of low employer demand for skills often relates to employers’ product market strategies, and this in turn often influences their method of work organisation.Low-paid employees are more likely to be found in firms which compete on cost rather than quality; and they are particularly over represented in the retail sector and in smaller firms. 41 A low-cost product market strategy has particular implications for the utilisation of skills, with many employers with low-cost strategies viewing their workforces as ‘an easily substitutable factor of production, or as a cost to be minimised, rather than as assets and sources of competitive advantage in their own right’. 2 This strategy informs the organisation of work and job design adopted by many low-wage employers; with low-skill jobs ofte n organised using Taylorist forms of job design which give workers little task autonomy, discretion or flexibility. 43 This is in sharp contrast to high-end knowledge workers who often have considerable autonomy and flexibility over their work. More generally, cost pressures on employers can also result in relying more on contingent labour with the increasing use of temporary workers. 44 Often employers producing consumption goods are ‘not acting irrationally’ by following standardised, low cost approaches.Keep estimates that only 30 per cent of the population have an income high enough to support purchasing ‘high value added, customised goods and services on a regular basis’. 45 However the low-road strategies adopted can become a ‘vicious cycle’: Products are poor because the workforce skills to produce better ones are often lacking, and skills are poor because existing product market strategies do not demand high levels of skill and because work has been organised, and jobs are designed to require low levels of skill and discretion.Low wages can also result in a further reinforcing factor, limiting consumer demand for more highly specified products and services. 46 Keep, E. , Mayhew, K. and Payne, J. 2006. ‘From Skills Revolution to Productivity Miracle – Not As Easy As It Looks? ’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy 22:4 pp539-559 41 Newton, B. , Miller, L. , Bates, P. , Page, R. and Akroyd, K. (2006) Learning Through Work: Literacy, language, numeracy and IT skills development in low-paid, low-skilled workplaces Institute for Employment Studies: Report 433 42 Keep, E. 2009; page 5) Labour market structures and trends, the future of work and the implications for initial E&T Beyond Current Horizons Paper 43 Newton, B. , Miller, L. , Bates, P. , Page, R. and Akroyd, K. (2006) Learning Through Work: Literacy, language, numeracy and IT skills development in low-paid, low-skilled workplaces Institute for Employment Studies: Report 433; Keep E (2000) Learning organisation, lifelong learning and the mystery of the vanishing employers SKOPE Research Paper Number 8 44 Metcalf, H. and Dhudwar, A. (2010) Employers’ role in the low-pay/no-pay cycle Joseph Rowntree Foundation 45 Keep, E. 2000) Learning organisation, lifelong learning and the mystery of the vanishing employers SKOPE Research Paper Number 8 46 Wilson, R. and Hogarth, T. (Eds. ) (2003) Tackling the Low Skills Equilibrium: a review of issues and some new evidence, DTI 40 The Skills Dilemma 13 The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisation These forms of corporate strategies are also influenced by the particular variant of Anglo-Saxon capitalism and its focus on short-term results. 47 There is therefore an enormous challenge in producing the type of demand-side improvement which is required to better utilise individuals’ skills.It should be stressed that the product market strategy is not the only influencing factor. Low-wage/ low-skilled service sector jobs are also a product of the institutional environment. Gray highlights the lack of unionisation in many low-wage service sector occupations as being a key determinant of them being ‘bad jobs’, pointing to the fact that unionisation vastly improved the pay, terms and conditions for manufacturing jobs which (prior to unionisation) were often ‘casual, ill-paid, with appalling working conditions’. 8 The product market strategy therefore sits within a wider skills ecosystem which determines skills use, the skills ecosystem includes factors both internal and external to firms. The OECD defines elements of a skills ecosystem as:49 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Business settings (eg enterprise design, networks financial system); Institutional and policy frameworks (skill and non-skill based); Modes of engaging labour (eg standard contracts, labour hire arrangements); Structure of jobs (e g job design, work organisation); and, Level and types of skill formation (eg apprenticeship arrangements, informal on-the-job).Career progression from low-wage work One of the greatest challenges for low-wage workers is the lack of career progression or earnings mobility. 50 However, a number of interventions have been shown to be effective in boosting career progression. 51 In the US in particular there is a growing literature on adopting career ladders as a boost to earnings progression within employers or individual sectors; although it should be noted that there are some questions surrounding the efficacy of this approach in some employment sectors – notably some parts of the service sector.Workers can also be helped to progress through supporting policies which enhance their ability to move between employers, for example by supporting lifelong learning and through the provision of effective careers advice. 47 Keep, E. (2000) Learning organisation, lifelong learning and the mystery of the vanishing employers SKOPE Research Paper Number 8 48 Gray, M. (2004) ‘The social construction of the service sector: institutional structures and labour market outcomes’ in Geoforum 35, pp23-34 Sissons, P. 2011) The Hourglass and the Escalator: Labour market change and mobility The Work Foundation For a summary see Sissons, P. (2011) The Hourglass and the Escalator: Labour market change and mobility The Work Foundation 50 51 49 OECD (May 2010) Skills demand and utilisation: an international review of approaches to measurement and policy development 14 The Skills Dilemma The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisation Wage inequality and the minimum wage During the last three decades the labour market has become increasingly unequal and wage inequality has grown sharply.Wage inequalities increased very dramatically in the 1980s, as both upper-tail and lower-tail wage inequality grew. 52 This trend continued, albeit at a slower rate, during the 1990s. In the 2000s there was a slightly different pattern as lower-tail wage inequality declined somewhat, while uppertail inequality continued to grow. 53 Inequality considerations aside, there is an argument that the single most effective intervention to increase skills utilisation might be to raise the National Minimum Wage.Edwards, Sengupta and Tsai argue that the availability of relatively cheap labour undermines the incentive for employers to pursue a high-road high-value added path and that increasing the National Minimum Wage would be a key means to encourage employers to move off a low-skills path. 54 Again there are examples from other countries on which we can draw, where there exists more widespread use of licence to practice regulation in the labour market which is often ‘reinforced’ by wage systems that more generously reward lower level occupational employment. 5 Good and bad work The preceding sections have highlighted the number of fac tors which make it challenging for low earners. As such better skills utilisation policies are required as part of the broader challenge of improving lowwage work. There is an emerging body of literature, particularly from Canada and the US, about what can be done to ‘upgrade’ low-wage service sector work. Part of this upgrading is about improving wages and part is about improving conditions.It is argued that low-wage service jobs are the ‘last frontier of inefficiency’ and it is advocated that more service sector firms take the ‘high-road’ by investing in workers skills to enable them to perform at a higher standard. 56 Other work in the US also charts a route map to better jobs. Paul Osterman in his body of work on ‘making bad jobs good’ provides a useful framework for how we might approach these wider issues. Osterman concentrates on both improving existing bad jobs and encouraging policy to support the formation of new good job s.Table 1 provides his conceptualisation of the needs, as well as the policy levers needed, to improve work. These are both standard setting, for example through national and local Upper-tail wage inequality is the difference between earners at the 90th percentile and those at the median; lowertail wage inequality is the difference between earners at the median and those at the 10th percentile of the earnings distribution 53 See Kasparova, D. , Wyatt, N. , Mills, T. and Roberts, S. (2010) Pay: Who were the winners and losers of the New Labour era?The Work Foundation 54 Edwards, P. , Sengupta, S. and Tsia, C-J. (2007) Managing work in the low-skill equilibrium: A study of UK food manufacturing SKOPE Research Paper Number 72 55 Keep, E. (2009) Labour market structures and trends, the future of work and the implications for initial E&T Beyond Current Horizons Paper 56 For a brief summary see Florida, R. (2010) America needs to make its bad jobs better (http://www. creativeclass. com/rf cgdb/articles/America%20needs%20to%20make%20its%20bad%20jobs%20better. pdf) 52 The Skills Dilemma 15The challenge of improving low-wage work: the role of skills utilisation regulation; and, programmatic or technical assistance based which support sector or firm specific good practice. 57 Table 1: Making bad jobs good Standard setting Make bad jobs good Minimum wage Living wages Unionisation Community Benefit Agreements Managed tax incentives Programmatic Career ladders Intermediaries Sectoral programmes Extension services Sectoral programmes Consortia or partnerships under business or union auspices Source: Osterman58 Create more good jobs58Findings In this chapter we have explored some broader labour market issues in order to place skills utilisation within a framework of broader changes required to improve the lot of the Bottom Ten Million. The aim has been to show how and where skills utilisation policies have the potential to have a beneficial impact for low-wage workers, but al so to show they are not a ‘magic bullet’. To systematically improve the position of low-wage workers, skills utilisation needs to be part of a broader suite of policies which also address opportunities for progression and wage increases.Community Benefit Agreements essentially involve local government agreeing elements of job quality with a developer as part of a large development project; managed tax incentives place job quality stipulations as part of tax breaks and incentives offered by economic development actors 58 Osterman, P. (2008) ‘Improving job quality: policies aimed at the demand side of the low wage labor market’ in A Future of Good Jobs? : America’s Challenge in the Global Economy, Bartik, T. and Houseman, S. (eds). Upjohn Institute, pp. 203-244 http://research. upjohn. org/up_bookchapters/10 57 16 The Skills Dilemma 4.An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality This section summarises the main findings of the expert interviews conducted between July and October 2011 in order to identify the main drivers of skills under-utilisation and the barriers to improving skills utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality. 4. 1 Sector profile Retail The retail sector is the UK’s largest source of private sector employment, and despite the damaging impact of the economic downturn (resulting in over 6,000 insolvencies59) employs approximately 2. 8 million people (over 10 per cent of the UK’s workforce).It includes retail sales in:60 Example Non-specialised stores Specialised stores Pharmaceutical goods New goods in specialised stores Second-hand goods Not in store Supermarkets and department stores Butchers, greengrocers, fishmongers and tobacconists Chemists and pharmacies Stores selling textiles, clothing, books, electrical household appliances, furniture and lighting Charity shops and eBay Catalogue and mail order sales, online and via stalls and markets The retail sector is diverse; approximately two-thirds of people employed within the sector work in ‘large retailers’; however 99 per cent of retailers employ less than 50 people (accounting for 28 per cent of employment). 61 It is also highly polarised; knowledge intensive work is concentrated in head offices and head quarters, and less knowledge intensive work is concentrated on the shop floor. Figure 3 below shows the occupational breakdown of the sector.Almost 20 per cent of retail workers are employed in managerial positions (higher than the national average), but 50 per cent are employed in sales and customer service occupations and 14 per cent in elementary level jobs. ‘Softer’ customer facing skills are therefore in higher demand in the retail sector. Low pay is also prevalent; the median hourly wage in the sector is ? 6. 94, which compares to ? 10. 97 for all employees in the UK. 62 Previous research has suggested that the whole sale and retail industries tend to have some of the highest levels of skills under-utilisation, with 43 per cent of employees reporting being ‘over-skilled’ and http://www. bis. gov. k/policies/business-sectors/retail Skillsmart retail (2010) 61 UK Business Activity Size and Location (2010) 59 60 62 Earnings, Office for National Statistics The Skills Dilemma Defined as SIC 47; Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles. Annual Survey of Hours and 17 An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality Figure 3: Employment by occupation in the retail sector and the whole economy 60. 0% 50. 0% 40. 0% 30. 0% 20. 0% 10. 0% 0. 0% ns ns ns cr et ar ia at ion s ca l er at iv e f ic ial at io at io Te ch ni at io Employment by occupation in retail and the whole economy All economy Retail sO cc up cu p cu p Oc m en ta ry Ele at io ns l s s Op neOf oc cu p an d ni na l an d ice Se Tr ad e ice m er S er v Pr oc es s, P lan ist ra tiv e es sio M an ag er s es sio ille d Pe rs on al Pr of ro f in Sk As so cia t Source: Labour Force Survey Q4, 2010: Retail defined as SIC 47 (Retail trade, except vehicles) 52 per cent over-qualified’. 63 This level of under-utilisation is above that observed in other sectors of the economy, with the exception of hotels and catering. It is also important to note – based on the occupational structure of the retail sector – that 45 per of sales workers reported being ‘over-skilled’ and 57 per cent ‘over-qualified’ (the highest level amongst all occupations).Furthermore, research published by The Work Foundation64 in 2009 found that 55 per cent of ‘servers and sellers’ were ‘over-skilled’ for their job. However, some interviewees felt that skills underutilisation was a ‘major problem’ which extended ‘all the way up the line’ to management roles. There was also a perceived lack of s kills development and training in the retail sector. One possible explanation for the reported levels of skills under-utilisation is the flexible nature of retail work; 56 per cent of retail employees work part-time (twice the UK average), and the mean hours worked in the sector is 27. 4 compared to the UK mean of 32. 5 hours. 5 The part-time and local nature of retail work can be attractive to some people, who require a particular work-life balance (individuals with care responsibilities or students for example). Indeed, a disproportionate amount of store workers are women and young people, especially in supermarkets. One third of employees in the retail sector are under 24 These are self-assessed incidences of under-utilisation which draw on the 2001 Skills Survey – see Green, F. and McIntosh, S. (2002) Is there a genuine underutilisation of skills amongst the over-qualified? SKOPE Research Paper No. 30 2002 64 Brinkley, I. , Fauth, R. , Mahdon, M. and Theodoropoulou, S. (2 009) Knowledge Workers and Knowledge Work 65 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2009) 63 18 Sa le sa nd Cu st oAd m eP ta nd M ac hi na l Se rv an d Oc cu p or Se Oc The Skills Dilemma An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality years of age (compared to 13 per cent in the economy as a whole)66 and 61 per cent female, compared to 49 per cent in the economy as a whole. 67 Not all interviewees perceived skills under-utilisation to be a major concern for the retail sector; some considered the (inadequate) supply of skills to be a bigger challenge for employers. The sector employs a large proportion of people with low-level qualifications; for example 31 per cent of sales staff have below level two qualifications. 8 Skillsmart Retail have identified technical and practical skills, customer handling, and management skills to be the main skills gap areas and in need of improvement; interviewees cited the sector’s poor image as a barrier to attracting the right people to address these skills needs. It is also worth noting on the positive side that there has been a greater emphasis on training and skills development in the retail sector in recent years. Although the retail sector accounts for 10 per cent of employment in the private sector it accounts for 12 per cent of training spend. The qualification framework has also been simplified to increase transferability. Hospitality Hospitality is the country’s fifth largest industry and employs more than 2. 4 million people. 9 In the decade prior to the recession, the rate of employment growth in hospitality outstripped employment growth in the wider economy; it has also been recently predicted that the sector has the potential to generate relatively strong employment gains over the next decade. 70 The industry includes the following types of employers: Contract food service providers Events Gambling Holiday parks Hospitality services Hostels Hotels Membe rship clubs Pubs, bars and nightclubs Restaurants Self catering accommodation Tourist services Travel services Visitor attractions Source: People 1st The hospitality sector is both broad and diverse; it is widely geographically distributed and makes an important contribution to employment in all regions. Firm sizes vary from a neighbourhood chip shop Skillsmart Retail Skillsmart Retail 68 Skillsmart Retail 69 British Hospitality Association (http://www. bha. org. k/policy/) 70 See Oxford Economics (2010) Economic contribution of the UK hospitality industry (http://www. baha-uk. org/ OxfordEconomics. pdf) 66 67 The Skills Dilemma 19 An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality through to large multinational food service and hotel chains. In general the workforce in the hospitality sector tends to be concentrated in less skilled and lower-wage roles. The median hourly wage in the sector is ? 6. 20, compared to a national average of ? 10. 97. 71 Figure 4 presents the occupational distribution of employees in the hospitality sector compared to the economy as a whole.The most striking feature of the graph is the number of hospitality employees working in elementary jobs (the least skilled job types), with half of all hospitality employees in these posts compared to just 11 per cent in the economy as a whole. 72 Figure 4: Employment by occupation in hospitality and the whole economy 60. 0% 50. 0% 40. 0% 30. 0% All economy Hospitality 20. 0% 10. 0% 0. 0% ? cia ls re ta ria l s s tio ns Te ch er ati ati ati ati cc up cc up Se c cu p rO pa Oc cu cc u El em en t ar yO pa tio ns on ni on on ve s M ac hi ce ss ,P lan ta nd Pr o ne Op ca l s io lO nd es O Se n an la d e Oc of es sio na er vic io ag er sa ra ti Tr lS ille d rs on a Pr of ist Pr in Sk an Ad m Pe so cia Source: Labour Force Survey Q4, 2010: Hospitality defined as SIC 55 and 56 (Accommodation and Food and Beverage Service Activities)Previous research has sugge sted that the hotels and catering industries tend to have some of the highest levels of skills under-utilisation, with 56 per cent of employees reporting being ‘over-skilled’ and 50 per Figures refer to gross hourly earnings excluding overtime in 2009 from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Hospitality is defined as accommodation and food service activities 72 Elementary jobs are defined by the Office for National Statistics as jobs ‘which require the knowledge and experience necessary to perform mostly routine tasks, often involving the use of simple hand-held tools and, in some cases, requiring a degree of physical effort’ 71 20 Sa le sa As nd Cu s M te to m er S es s er vic na nd ve ad e The Skills DilemmaAn analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality cent over-qualified’. 73 This under-utilisation is significantly above that observed in other sectors of the economy. One common characteristic across the sector is that there tends to be relatively low barriers to entry in terms of qualifications required for many posts. In the absence of qualification requirements, hospitality sector employees are often recruited on the basis of their attitude rather than skills sets. The low accreditation needs mean that for some individuals the sector can offer reasonable prospects for progression, either internally or by moving between employers.The sector also has a large number of back of house roles so some skills, in particular language ones, are not as much of a barrier to employment as they can be in other sectors. Interviewees pointed towards the high levels of employee turnover in the sector as being an important feature and one that has significant implications for skills use and skills development. More generally it was also felt by some expert interviewees that there was a group of workers in the hospitality industry who are paid less for using comparable skills than they wo uld make for using similar skill sets in other sectors. In part this relates to the fact that profitability of employers in the sector is often very low.Interviewees reported that this was also in large part driven by the fact the sector has historically employed more marginal workers – including students and migrants – who are less likely to have a voice with employers. When considering skills in the sector it should be noted that there are some issues around conceptualising skills, and this creates some difficulty in judging the extent of under-utilisation. The skills used, and in demand, in the sector are largely soft skills such as inter-personal skills and flexibility, rather than formal qualifications. A focus on utilisation of technical skills would therefore provide one measure of skills utilisation, but looking at the use of wider skills, particularly soft skills, would give a different one. This also raises questions about the way skills are valued and reward ed both in the sector and beyond.In practical terms organisations may or may not acknowledge soft skills (in appraisals, progression or pay) – where they don’t there are clearly questions around whether the organisation knows what skills are and how to value them. Some interviewees suggested that one of the issues around the poor deployment and utilisation of skills in the sector was the result of the sector suffering from a relatively weak quality of management. It was noted by interviewees that HR practice in the sector could be poor, and in common with other sectors smaller employers often have no specialist HR function. However, while under-utilisation was felt to be more prevalent in smaller businesses and those in more peripheral areas, interviewees identified a number of examples of good practice in larger employers.Furthermore, as described previously, the hospitality sector tends to have a relatively high level of staff turnover so in some cases skills under-u tilisation can be a short-term issue for an employee. Several 73 These are self-assessed incidences of under-utilisation which draw on the 2001 Skills Survey – see Green, F. and McIntosh, S. (2002) Is there a genuine underutilisation of skills amongst the over-qualified? SKOPE Research Paper No. 30 2002 The Skills Dilemma 21 An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality interviewees pointed to the large numbers of migrant workers who use the sector as an initial stepping stone into other sectors for whom again under-utilisation might be a short lived problem. 4. The drivers of skills under-utilisation in low-wage sectors Section 3 highlighted some of the wider drivers which serve to make things challenging for low-wage workers in the UK, such as the poor conception of work in low-wage sectors, corporate strategies based on cost competition, and forms of work organisation based on Taylorist forms of job design which give worker s little task autonomy, discretion or flexibility. These themes were highlighted in the expert interviews, but interviewees also identified a set of drivers that were more specific to the retail and hospitality sectors. Retail Retailers are often highly cost competitive. The economic climate was cited as an immediate concern for employers, with ‘store survival’ often the biggest priority in the short to medium-term.In an attempt to keep costs as low as possible, interviewees identified the centrally driven de-skilling of work as a common corporate strategy pursued by employers – the de-skilling of lower level occupational store work and instore managerial jobs through increasing central office control to increase efficiencies. These models of central management encode a ‘one best way’ approach. The corollary is that (unlike in Scandinavian countries such as Finland) there is no real capacity for process innovation from employees and product knowledge is declining on the shop floor. The increasing usage of technology and ICT has also reduced employee discretion.Furthermore, this type of work organisation has resulted in a highly polarised workforce – with the decline of ‘intermediate level jobs’ also reducing career progression opportunities. Secondly, given the prevalence of low-skill flexible work the retail sector also traditionally exhibits a relatively high turnover of staff. Before 2006 the turnover rate was above 30 per cent. Although research conducted by the CIPD in 2009 found that the annual staff turnover had fallen to 17 per cent in the retail and wholesale sector. 74 In this type of environment employers may consider skills development and strategies to improve skills utilisation to be counter productive. A third important driver of skills under-utilisation in the retail sector is employee demand for flexible working arrangements.The previous sub section has presented evidence of the high proport ion of women and young people in the retail sector who prefer or require the work-life balance offered by retail work in comparison to other sectors. It may be that there is relatively little demand for job re-design and greater skills utilisation amongst this group. Often in these cases individuals have acquired greater skills than those required for the job, but make a conscious decision to accept less skilled work. 74 CIPD (2009) Recruitment, Retention and Turnover. Annual survey report The Skills Dilemma 22 An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitalityMore generally interviewees often felt that there were issues around the quality and completion rate of apprenticeships in the sector; with apprenticeships too often not providing apprentices with a broader skills base around retail skills. Hospitality Interviewees identified a number of central drivers of skills under-utilisation in the sector – these related to business mod els and task design, the sector’s high staff turnover, and poor management understanding of the skills needed. They also flagged-up the broader issue of pay levels. The business strategies adopted by many employers in the sector were felt by some interviewees to be largely driving the under-utilisation of skills. Many employers operate with low-profit margins and compete primarily on cost rather than quality.In this explanation, skills under-utilisation is driven by the low-pay culture, perceptions of competition, and long-term tacit acceptance of low profit margins and the consumer demand for low prices. Low-value business models were felt to generate more jobs characterised by basic tasks. Issues around the understanding of skills, and the relatively high turnover of employees in the sector were also felt to be important elements in explaining skills under-utilisation. It was reported by interviewees that there was often an ‘incomplete understanding’ among empl oyers of what skills are required to deliver services effectively; with some businesses being ‘fairly woolly’ about how to match specific skills to a jobs requirements, and employers tending to simply take on whoever is willing to do the job.The high rate of staff turnover was also felt to limit the extent to which employers would explore skills use or development with employees. For employers this stance may seem quite rational – why train someone who is going to leave anyway? However it is also the case that greater attention to skills deployment and usage may in turn help to reduce high turnover. As was the case in the retail sector interviews, a third driver was related to employee choice and lifestyle decisions rather than employer behaviour. This is important in two senses. First the sector offers a range of hours and working arrangements and this can make it attractive for people who need a job which fits around other commitments.Secondly, people can trade down in employment terms, but this allows them to live in a location of their choice because hospitality work is so widespread. Box 2: Summary findings: Drivers of skills under-utilisation in low-wage sectors †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Corporate strategies; business models competing on cost rather than quality; Forms of work organisation and management techniques adopted by low-wage employers; Poor conception of work; Poor management and understanding of skills needs; High turnover of staff; Employee demand for flexible working/ work-life balance. 23 The Skills Dilemma An analysis of skills under-utilisation in two low-wage sectors – retail and hospitality 4. What are the barriers to better skills utilisation in low-wage sectors? As well as identifying the main drivers of skills under-utilisation, interviewees also highlighted a set of barriers to improving skills utilisation in low wage sectors. †¢ Employers may simply be unaware of the practical b enefits of better skills utilisation (to themselves, their employees and the wider economy), see skills utilisation as irrelevant to them, and/or see job design as a cost (in terms of training or higher wages). Interviewees generally agreed that the skills utilisation agenda must be employer-led; providing employers with the evidence of the practical benefits is therefore a priority. †¢Secondly, skills utilisation ‘is interdependent on the wider economic development policy being pursued by a nation’;75 the lack of intermediate level economic development and business support agencies (one example cited was the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies) was identified as a barrier to operationalising this agenda in England. †¢ Lastly, due to the prevalence of part-time work, unionisation rates are low, and interviewees highlighted that employees have limited representation in skills policy – with the lack of employee voice making securing positive ch anges to work expe