Brandon with, what they did, where the

Brandon with, what they did, where the

Brandon Schlichting Michael Street English 101 CA October 23, 2011 Word count: 1,032 My opinions of the workforce based from “No long Term” To find a job today requires thinking outside the box and being creative, like finding a unicorn. People become more desperate to find work in today’s economy, making it a job itself to make sure the bills are paid on time. The difficulty of finding a nice paying job isn’t the only thing that’s changed though.

The hierarchy of the work environment is something that has also gone under some improvements, especially for those who work under their own roof.People are clinging to their work because the economy today is giving them no alternative, causing a lack in social interaction with the people they care about and changing the way family values portrayed. Richard Sennett’s article “No Long Term: New Work and the Corrosion of Character” uses two people, Enrico and his son Rico, to convey that idea.

Because of the rapidly changing economy today, a job becomes scarcer and causes a lack of interaction and hierarchy within family households along with businesses. People are becoming more and more desperate to grab a job when they can in this crippling economy.My grandparents, whom I will call Deen and Cindy, are still working the same jobs that they’ve had since their mid 30’s. Cindy was able to obtain work as an accountant for Kalama Exports. Five days a week, she works the same schedule, from six in the morning until five in the afternoon.

While she might just be getting home, Deen is already gone to his job as a security guard for a retirement home. His job requires him to work from three in the afternoon until midnight, leaving him tired and worn out when he arrives home at about one in the morning the next day.During Cindy and Deen’s generation, it was easier to find work, thus allowing for a more flexible choice in what options someone had for a job, like who someone worked with, what they did, where the work was done and when it was accomplished. Retail work creates a fine example in offering flexibility for time management and a chain of command. I work at Toys R Us, and as a full-time student, my job offers me the adaptability to have my work schedule move around my school schedule. The work Deen and Cindy do require time and dedication.Because of the different times they work, neither one spends time with the other until the weekend rolls around.

Time management is one of the small factors Sennett points out and is a partial factor in the strain of Deen and Cindy’s marriage, almost leading to divorce. Cindy and Deens own marriage isn’t all that’s in trouble, as they are also working to take care of their 11-year-old grandson, my little brother, as well. We’ll call their grandson Jacob. Cindy is the only one who really gets to interact with Jacob because his school schedule is coordinated with her work schedule.That means right as Jacob is getting home, Deen has already gone for work leaving Jacob less time to see his grandfather like Cindy. Because time is mostly spent with her, Cindy’s values become instilled in Jacob. This becomes stressful on both parties because not only are neither one from the same generation, they’re of different genders.

The future of Jacob and the other children is at stake due to the increasingly changing economy. His lack of any real interaction with his grandparents won’t be the issue when a future that’s consistently outsourcing jobs and changing so rapidly is constantly redefining his future.The turnover rate is steadily increasing in fixed jobs and so are the skills associated with those jobs. Employers will look at all possible skills a potential employee has and may only keep someone for so long. Sennett says, “Strong ties…depend on long association” (Sennett 156).

Along with such a temporary mindset, the workforce is actually becoming more evened out. Everyone is becoming capable of doing another’s job, creating a flexible work environment and leaving no real opportunity for one to be in control other than the actual boss. Hierarchy within the workforce is fading away.

The same idea of no hierarchy can be used as an example outside of work. Families are trying to set standards in their households, yet with everyone gone until late hours of the night, who dominates the household is just assumed by who pays the bills. Flexible and equal work environments can create balance among coworkers, but at the cost of losing that authority like figure. This can definitely be applied to Jacob and his apathetic nature. Even though my grandparents may scold him to get chores done, he procrastinates doing them for days on end.

This might seem like the normal actions of a typical eleven-year-old boy, but from what I see, Deen and Cindy hold no real hold on him. It may just start off with him ignoring the chores, but later on it might be more drastic rebellious behavior. People today may be able to hold a job to the best of their ability, the circumstances that our economy is going through is leaving them no choice but to cling to their work and adapt to the social changes created in their home and work. So while people try to set standards to the best of their abilities, in some cases it might just be out of their hands because they’re gone most of the time.Technology is changing and work is being sent to countries businesses can profit from.

Eventually third world parts of the world will reach the standard line of economy development, and soon businesses will have nowhere to turn to and neither will the people within them. Of course “the corroding of character is an inevitable consequence” that we as human being will eventually have to adapt to (Sennett 156). Work Cited Sennett, Richard.

“No Long Term: New Work and the Corrosion of Character. ” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum: Brief Edition. 4th edition.

Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Boston: Longman, 2011. 150-158. Print.