In the U.S. work force, job mobility has become the standard employment pattern. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10% of the work force switches jobs every year. Among the factors contributing to the career mobility of today's workers are the following: search for competitive employment positions; pursuit of a good career match; desire…

Preparation for productive employment in a global economy is one aspect of National Education Goals 3 and 5. Career education can help people realize the opportunities and meet the challenges of the international workplace. The emergence of flexible, information-based technologies is a primary factor in the evolution of the global economy. New…

The changing workplace has altered workers' roles and forced them to assume primary responsibility for their own career development. Continued employment is increasingly being tied to lifelong learning and ongoing skill development. Just as workers are recognizing the need to ensure their marketability to employers, so too are employers facing…

Labor market information (LMI) describes the interaction between occupations and employers. Three major components make up LMI: economic or labor force information, occupational information, and demographic information. Various agencies, including federal departments and state employment security agencies, compile LMI. A guide to the information…

Options for flexible work schedules such as job sharing, compressed work weeks, reduced hours, work at home, and flextime have provided employees with the means to realize a better balance between work and family and engage simultaneously in more than one endeavor (for example, school and work or two careers). The same options can also lead to…

The linear career path that once kept people working in the same job is not the standard career route for today's workers. Instead, many workers are now pursuing varied career paths that reflect sequential career changes. Although job mobility no longer carries the stigma once associated with job change, it can still be emotionally stressful. Job…

Various economic, technology-related, and other factors have converged to serve as a catalyst for the emergence of workers who consider themselves free agents. Estimates of the number of free agent workers range from 12.9 to 25 million. Individual free agent workers may take widely varying approaches to their careers; however, all have taken…

The most significant factors affecting the labor market during the 1980s were the United States' loss of competitiveness in the world marketplace, continued shifts in production from goods to services, changes in the skill requirements of many jobs, and demographic shifts in the population. During the next decade, incompatibility between the type…

Women and minorities are underrepresented in technology-related careers for many reasons, including lack of access, level of math and science achievement, and emotional and social attitudes about computer capabilities. Schools and teachers can use the following strategies to attract women and minorities to high-tech careers and prepare them for…