Dislocation, Significance of Dislocation, Problems of Dislocated Employees, Human Resource Planning, MS-23

Discuss the significance of dislocation and problems of dislocated employees. Identify the need and process of dislocation in your organization or an organization you are familiar with. Briefly describe the organization you are referring to.

The process of developing new skills and capabilities of dislocated employees are discussed here by taking the example of US army and its economy. The retaining needs of dislocation employees are also determined with the help of the said big organisation of world. The causes of job dislocation are mentioned according to US army and another organisation in short at the end.

DISLOCATED WORKERS: ISSUES AND FEDERAL OPTIONS
Even when the U.S. economy has recovered from the present recession, some portion of the workforce that is now unemployed will remain jobless despite concerted efforts to return to work. This group, identified as dislocated workers and composed of people who have been displaced by structural changes in the economy, will face particular difficulty adjusting to changed employment demands and will likely endure longer-than-usual periods of joblessness. Whether the federal government should provide special assistance to such workers and what form any aid might take are likely to be important questions as the Congress considers a number of proposals that have been advanced to assist dislocated workers.

SOURCES AND SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM
Several factors are likely to contribute to substantial displacement of labor in the 1980s. First, shifts in consumer demand and in foreign competition will cause many traditional manufacturing industries such as steel production, automotive manufacturing, and the textile industry to grow slowly or actually decline in the years ahead. Second, the modernization of many older industries through labor-saving technology will further reduce the need for workers in those sectors. In particular, the diffusion of microelectronic technology could cause the loss of three million jobs by the end of the decade~or 15 percent of the current manufacturing workforce.

Some workers who become unemployed due to these changes will face serious problems in becoming reemployed. Adjustment is likely to be particularly difficult for older blue-collar workers with long service records in their former jobs; they will not easily find new employment and may suffer financial loss when they do. Complicating adjustment for such workers will be differences in skill requirements between the jobs lost and those that may be available, as well as differences in their locations. The number of workers likely to be dislocated in the near future is a function of the exact characteristics used to define dislocation-age, length of job tenure, occupation, industry, and duration of employment. Applying several different definitions and a range of assumptions regarding future economic conditions, the number of dislocated workers in 1983, when recovery is expected to be under way, could range from 100,000 to 2.1 million-that is, from about 1 percent of all unemployed workers to 20 percent. At the lower extreme, if only workers who are displaced from declining industries and who remain jobless for longer than 26 weeks are considered dislocated, the number ranges from 100,000 to 150,000-most of whom would be blue-collar workers in the Northeast and Midwest. On the other hand, if ail unemployedworkers in declining geographic areas are also considered dislocated, the number could range from 1.7
million to 2.1 million; about 50 percent would be blue-collar workers, but nearly 25 percent would be
managerial, sales, and clerical workers.

The Congress confronts difficult questions concerning dislocated workers. Do they warrant special
assistance and, if so, what kind? Some observers view dislocation as a private market problem for
which direct federal involvement is unnecessary or inappropriate. On the other hand, proponents of
special aid contend that dislocated workers face a uniquely difficult employment situation, which
warrants special assistance. Still others would argue that dislocated workers, if unaided, could use
legislative efforts to hinder economic changes that could benefit society in the long run. Relaxed
international trade restrictions is one example of the kind of policy change that hard-pressed jobless
workers might seek to impede.

CURRENT UNEMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS AND DISLOCATED WORKERS
The federal government currently operates an array of programs for unemployed people. Although
current programs offer the variety of services that dislocated workers may need-placement help, job
training, relocation aid, and cash assistance-because of funding restrictions and gaps in coverage,
present efforts are available to only a portion of all dislocated workers. Together, these programs could
not be considered to constitute a comprehensive dislocation policy.

The Employment Service. Staffing limitations at the Employment Service (ES)--a federal-state system
providing job-search assistance through 2,600 regional offices-restrict the quantity of personal services
that can be provided to dislocated workers. Furthermore, the ES has had problems building listings for
the types of jobs that might be suitable for the experienced workers who predominate among the
dislocated.

CETA. Assistance under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)-the major program
for providing job training-has generally not been used by dislocated workers. This programs is targeted
toward low-income, disadvantaged applicants and, in addition, many dislocated workers are reluctant to
seek aid through it.

Unemployment Insurance. Most experienced workers who lose their jobs are eligible for income
replacement benefits under the Unemployment Insurance (Ul) system. In many instances, however, Ul
benefits-which are generally available for 26 weeks-will be exhausted before dislocated workers
acquire new positions. Furthermore, dislocated workers are likely to have smaller proportions of their
earnings replaced by Ul than are other unemployed workers.

Special  Assistance Programs. Some workers also receive aid under a number of special assistance
programs. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)--the largest of these programs—is restricted to workers
whose unemployment results from import competition, however. Also, TAA has served more as an
income maintenance than an adjustment assistance program in the past, because few TAA recipients
participated in available employment services.

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