Ninety Years in the World of Work in America

Career Development Quarterly, Sept, 2001 by Camille DeBell

7. Corporations do not make long-term commitments to their employees, so clients should be cautioned against making an emotional commitment to their employers. Instead, clients can be encouraged to see each job as an opportunity to gain knowledge, experience, and social skills, while also remaining on the lookout for new positions that might provide more opportunities or a higher quality of life (Pollan & Levine, 1997).

Summary

Ironically, it is possible that knowledge of the world of work today is even more important than it was when Frank Parsons developed his model. The best way for counselors to optimize their clients' coping skills for the future is to educate them about the realities of the world in which they hope to be successful.

This article has compared and contrasted information about the world of work in the first decade of the twentieth century with the last decade of the century, with the aim of providing an informational starting point for counselors who wish to update their knowledge of contemporary aspects of work. The implications of these data for counselors are that although the world of work is still responding to some trends initiated a century ago (such as globalization, immigration, equity concerns, technological advances), there are also exponential changes, and the world of work is not the same as it was even a decade ago. It is essential that career practitioners in all their varied work environments help clients understand this and prepare for the unpredictable--the twenty-first century of work.

Camille DeBell is an assistant professor in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. The author thanks Marilyn Montgomery, Nadya Fouad, and Kathy Kellum for their assistance. Correspondence regarding this article should he sent to Camille DeBell, School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078.

References

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Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2000a, February 9). Employment projections: Table 3b. The 10 fastest growing occupations, 1998-2008 [News Release]. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 31, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.bls.gov/ news.re1ease/ecopro.t06.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2000b, February 9). Employment projections: Table 3c. The 10 occupations with the largest job growth, 1998-2008 [News Release]. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 31, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t07.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2001a, March 27). Industry at a glance [Report]. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 31, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http:// www.bls.gov/iag/iaghome.htm