Alter, Theodore R.

Ellis, Ira

English

Research Papers in Economics

POLICY OPTIONS TO FACILITATE CAREER
REORIENTATION
Ira Ellis
Maine Cooperative Extension Service
and
Theodore R. Alter
The Pennsylvania State University
The  objectives of this workshop  were twofold:  (1) to discuss the ca-
reer reorientation  needs  of people experiencing  economic  and social
stress in agricultural  and rural areas, and (2) to identify alternative,
feasible  policy options  for effectively  addressing these needs.
Workshop participants  were provided with a bibliography  of read-
ing materials as an information  base  for this task.  They  were  also
provided with a  set of possible  policy options  gleaned  by the work-
shop  leaders  from the reading materials and from  discussions with
the authors of those materials.
The workshop opened with a viewing of a video tape featuring the
Ag Action Center, a part of the Agriculture-in-Transition  program, a
joint venture  of the  Greater  Nebraska  Job  Training  Program and
supporting agencies,  including the Nebraska  Cooperative Extension
Service.
The  definition  of  "dislocated  worker,"  as  provided  by  Lynne  E.
Browne  in  a  paper  entitled,  "Structural  Change  and  Dislocated
Workers,"  was discussed.  Browne offers the following definition:
Dislocated workers are individuals with established work histo-
ries who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and
who are likely to encounter considerable  difficulty finding com-
parable employment.  Such individuals are thought to have lost
their jobs because the industries  or  occupations in which  they
worked are in long-term decline (p. 21).
Browne  notes the following points regarding  dislocated workers:
*  "...  dislocated  workers  are  workers  faced  with  the  need  to
make a major change. How difficult this change will be depends,
in large  measure,  upon  the extent  to which private  sector em-
122ployment  practices and a variety  of public sector policies recog-
nize, or fail to recognize, the possibility of displacement  (p. 27)."
*  "Dislocated  workers are not a new problem, not a rare problem,
not a problem of a few readily identifiable  industries. They are
not an easy problem  to solve. However, part of the solution must
be  to  recognize  the  prevalence  of the problem  and  to develop
institutions,  both  private  and  public,  based  on  an  awareness
that many workers will at some time be faced with the need for
a major career change  (p.  27)."
The  following  policy  options  for  addressing  career  reorientation
needs were outlined and discussed.
Short-term Policy Options
*  Maintain  and  expand  predislocation  services  to
individuals  and  families  who  may  be  facing  the
possibility of dislocation.
Such services may include but not be limited to farm and
ranch  management  assistance,  financial  evaluation  and
counseling,  legal  assistance  counseling,  employment
placement  services  to  identify  supplemental  income
opportunities,  equipment  and  labor  cooperatives,  and
foreclosure  moratoriums.
It is essential that predislocation  services  be maintained
due  to  the  fact  that (1) many  stressed  individuals  and
families  refuse  to accept  the fact that they will have  to
make a change,  and (2) predislocation  services  are often
the  only  means  of  helping  stressed  individuals  and
families accept reality.
*  Develop  a  comprehensive  set  of  interim  dislocation
services  to  assist  individuals  and  families  undergoing
dislocated  worker experiences.
Such  services  could  include:  personal  counseling  (stress
and grief),  vocational  counseling  (e.g., career  exploration
and  assessment,  identification  of  transferrable  skills),
and  social  support  services  (housing,  food,  medical,
unemployment  income,  child  care,  transportation,  and
others)  extended to include dislocated  workers and their
families.
*  Offer a complement of career retraining and reorientation
programs for dislocated workers and their families.
These programs  could  include but not be limited to: job
seeking  skills and job search  assistance, retraining,  and
on-the-job training and work experience programs.
123Long-term Policy  Options
*  Develop  affordable  programs  offered  by  educational
institutions  adapted to  the  needs  of dislocated  workers
and their families.
Primary and secondary schools, for example, might adjust
programs  to  meet  the  needs  of  dislocated  workers'
children.  Vocational  technical  schools,  colleges  and
universities  might directly  address  educational  needs  of
dislocated  workers  and  their  families.  A  federal
educational  payments  program,  similar  to  the  G.I.  Bill
program,  might  be  developed  for  dislocated  workers
(Chamberlin).
*  Conduct adequate  rural  labor  market research for rural
economic  development.
Briggs  makes  the  following  observation  regarding  such
research:
The  need to establish  a firm commitment  to rural
labor  market  research  is  too  obvious  to  be
belabored.  All  of the  major  issues  confronting  the
urban  economy-shifting  industrial  patterns;
changing  demographic  characteristics  of the  labor
supply;  growing  abuse  of the nation's  immigration
system;  increasing  foreign  competition  and
acceleration  changes  in  the  rate  of  technological
change on both the production of goods and services
and on the preparation  of workers  for jobs;  and the
growing unwillingness  of the federal government  to
accept  responsibility  for  the  protection  of workers
from  the  harsh  and  cumulative  effects  of  these
happenings-are  also buffeting  the  rural  economy.
But given the marked differences that exist between
the two sectors, it is certain that they have not been
affected in the same manner or degree.  The burden
has fallen heavier on the rural economy.  An ongoing
research  program  for  rural  economic  development
could  provide  the  information  needed  to  develop
policy options.
*  Identify  and  coordinate  all  state  and  federal  programs
and funds to focus on the needs of dislocated workers and
their families.
*  Examine federal policy and programs to determine their
differential  impacts on rural  and urban areas.  Establish
federal  policies  that  do  not  adversely  discriminate
against rural relative to urban economies  and people.
124*  Encourage  a  societal  change  in  the  distribution  of
economic rewards, either in the labor market or by reform
of the tax and transfer system (Burtless).
In discussion,  workshop participants  made the following ob-
servations  regarding  the  array  of policy  options  to facilitate
career reorientation:
*  Careful consideration  should be given  to the various lev-
els of government  as well as to which agencies and orga-
nizations  are  and  should have  a  role  in  developing  and
implementing these policy options. It was suggested that
a matrix format  would be  helpful  in identifying various
organizations  (e.g.,  governments  and their agencies,  pri-
vate sector entities, voluntary organizations, Cooperative
Extension Service, farm families and perhaps others) and
their  respective  roles  in  developing  and  implementing
policy options  for assisting dislocated  workers and their
families.
*  Individual  policy options will  likely involve  multiple lev-
els of government and multiple agencies or organizations.
Some  levels  of  government  or  organizations  may  have
solely a funding role, while others may have solely a pro-
gram implementation  role. In these circumstances,  flexi-
bility  and  cooperation  among  governments  and
organizations  are  keys  to  effective  career  reorientation
policies.
*  It is especially  important  to recognize  the variation  and
diversity  of the career  reorientation  needs  of dislocated
workers  and  their families  from  community  to commu-
nity, state to state and region to region. Accordingly,  what
is appropriate policy and the roles  of those organizations
involved in  developing  and implementing  those  policies
will of necessity reflect this diversity. For example, policy
options for  local government  will  necessarily  differ from
community  to community in response  to the diversity  of
career reorientation  needs.
*  Career reorientation  policy options for dislocated workers
and their families cannot be viewed in isolation from pol-
icy issues inherent in the broad scope  of society  and the
economy.
REFERENCES
Briggs, Vernon  M. Jr. "The Rural Labor Force:  Unemployment and Underemployment  Issues-Concluding Obser-
vations" Testimony  before the Joint Economic  Committee of Congress, Washington  DC,  13 June  1985.
Browne,  Lynn E. "Structural Change and Dislocated Workers."  New England Economic Review (January/February
1986),  pp.  16-30.
Burtless,  Gary. "Manpower  Policies  for the Disadvantaged:  What  Works?"  The Brookings Review (Fall 1984), pp.
18-22.
Chamberlin,  R. A.  "A G.I.  Bill for Farmers."  Wall Street Journal, Aug. 19,  1986.
125

A G.I. Bill for Farmers.&quot;

Manpower Policies for the Disadvantaged: What Works?&quot; The Brookings Review (Fall

Structural Change and Dislocated Workers.&quot; New England Economic Review (January/February

The Rural Labor Force: Unemployment and Underemployment Issues-Concluding Observations&quot; Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress,

POLICY OPTIONS TO FACILITATE CAREER REORIENTATION

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Research Papers in Economics