Recent recession has brought the focus on jobs and unemployment. People now recognize unemployment as a measure of a country's economic woes. Economic theory says greater the unemployment, lesser will be the disposable income available in the hands of jobless people, and therefore, lesser will be the demand for most manufactured goods. This will lead to more businesses closing down, and creating more unemployment. Eventually, very few businesses will survive the vicious cycle, and the goods that they produce and sell will become very expensive because they need to recover the cost of manufacturing in the absence of adequate demand as people no longer have monies to buy their goods. Even the costs of procurement of raw materials to manufacture these products shoot up, as many of the regular suppliers would no longer be around. Effectively, jobs can affect cost of living! Jobs can be both blue collar as well as white collar.



Blue-collar jobs are those that involve manual efforts, while white-collar jobs are those that are done behind the desk. It is a general perception that those with white-collar jobs earn better. That, however, is not always true. There are some exceptionally well-paying blue-collar jobs as well. There are trade unions that take care of the interests of the blue-collar worker in so far as negotiations with employer are concerned. This means, the worker can concentrate on the job, while the trade unions are doing the needful on his or her behalf. Any job is taken up to earn monies. Every country, and every State in the country tries to create jobs for the people. But individuals tend to shun jobs that do not pay them well. They reckon that if they start at lower rung of the ladder, the next offer will only be slightly better than their existing job, and therefore, the higher cadre jobs will become inaccessible to them. To an extent, these fears are justified. If, however, the worker does put in efforts, and has enough to merit recognition, there will be nothing that stops him or her reaching the desired levels in his or her careers. Avoiding low paying jobs is also harmful in another way. Individuals from other countries, who find the job lucrative enough, when compared to the pay scales in their country, will join such jobs. Effectively, though the country or the State government as the case may be creates the jobs by offering tax concessions, or giving grants, etc., to the entrepreneurs, they fail to employ people for whom such jobs were intended.

These jobs are lost forever! A few individuals are averse to working under others, or working in a collective environment. They feel uncomfortable adjusting to others, like a team member. Such individuals tend to start their own businesses rather than take up jobs. Lack of experience, and inability to compromise might eventually tell on their businesses, and they may find it tougher to succeed. In such cases, extreme hard work is the only way they can come out of the situation. Outsourcing is another issue that is hotly debated. When a business is able to get some of the functions carried out more economically, and efficiently, outside its facilities, then logically, outsourcing such jobs would translate into higher profits. These additional profits can be used to expand the existing facilities, and eventually, sell the goods to the individuals who are at present doing the outsourced jobs! Effectively, the business expects outsourcing to create a market in future, and generate profits at present. The concept, however, misfires during recession times.