Changes in the American Work Force

Foreign-born workers are a fact of life in today's American work place, and their presence is likely to increase, not decrease, in the near-term. There are several reasons for this. First, the number of young people (aged 17 to 25) entering the work force is declining from past years. Second, immigration laws encourage legal immigration, and there is pressure now to increase the number of naturalized citizens. Newly naturalized citizens often use the "family preference" provision of immigration statutes to apply for permanent residency on behalf of their relatives (Reich, November 1990, p. 60).

During the 1980s, American hospitals were faced with a severe nursing shortage. Nursing had fallen from favor as a career path for women, who were seeking careers in the

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foreign-born workers are more likely to view the relationship as one of mutual benefit with management and labor playing equal, though different, roles in the organization. There are more subtle advantages to using foreign-born workers in companies, as well. For example, foreign-born workers bring cultural differences to a company which can enrich the company's strengths. Often these differences begin with higher education than their American counterparts, but the differences also include different approaches to the work place and to accomplishing given tasks. Because the foreign-born worker has a different perspective on the job, the company and the industry, the worker may be able to propose alternatives to problems that American workers would not be able to develop. As a result, the company benefits from creative approaches to traditional problems. These differences can also raise problems in terms of management, and companies who actively seek foreign-born employees should be aware that there are disadvantages with using these workers, as well. To begin with, American workers may simply dismiss the foreign-born workers out of prejudice and ignorance. This prejudice may result in the worker being the subject of practic
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Approximate Word count = 2141
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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