Mobility of labour

Mobility of labour.

The refers to the ease with which workers can move from one occupation to another or from one geographical region to another geographical region. Mobility of labour refers to the movement of workers from one place to another. For example, a Divisional Officer transferred from Muyuka to Kribi.

Occupational mobility of labour refers to the movement of workers from one job to another. For example, a teacher who resigns teaching to become lawyers.

Barriers to mobility of labour

These are the hinders or difficulties that restrict labour from moving from one place to another or from one occupation to another.

• Housing cost: some areas don’t have enough houses and rent are too high. This makes workers to resist any movement into such areas.
• Social ties: when a worker has been in an area for a long period of time with friends, it becomes difficult for him to move to another area where he needs new relationship.
• Language problems: In Cameroon for example, some people like the francophone/Anglophones find it too difficult to work in the Anglophones/ francophone areas respectively.
• Disruption of children education: some parents would not want to move to another area because it might disrupt (disturb) their children’s education. This is true if movement is between areas of different educational system.
• Transport cost and inconveniences: movement involves cost and replacement of damage things. Such cost and inconveniences make people reluctant to move.
• Inadequate information: when information about the place to which the worker is to move to is not available, people find it difficult in moving.
• Climatic conditions: many people find it difficult to move from one region to another because of harsh climates in different regions.

Measures used to promote geographical mobility of labour

• Provision of accommodation facilities: head of services is often provided with houses in their new areas of work. For example, in Cameroon Divisional Officers don’t pay houses.
• Provision of transport facilities: in Cameroon when workers are transferred, they are given transport to ease their movement to their new places of work.
• Provision of transfer: most transfers accompanied by promotion encourages the workers to move into his new place of work for example a classroom teacher transferred from GBHS Limbe to be a principal in G.S.S Menji
• Provision of Employment information: labour can easily move if job vacancies are made known to people through the radio process, TV and employment offices etc.
• Creation of Bilingual schools and linguistic centers: in Cameroon Bilingual schools and linguistic centers are created in major towns. This is to solve the problem of Anglophone or francophone resisting to move from one zone to another.

Barriers to occupational mobility of labour

• Natural Talents: some jobs need very high skills and intelligent. This is because they can’t be bought or sold in the market place for example music, teaching, engineering. Hence not everyone can enter such occupation.
• Training: the period and cost of training in other to enter some occupations is very low. This prevents most people from entering into each jobs e.g. medical doctors, lawyers etc.
• Capital: a certain amount of capital indeed to enter into certain professions e.g. a business man needs a certain amount of capital to operate.
• Inadequate information: people find it difficult getting into other occupations due to look of information through the radio, TV, press etc.
• Discrimination: this is based on race color, sex, tribe etc. and prevent occupational mobility for instance in Cameroon, women are discriminated against certain jobs.
• Administrative procedure: such procedures are too long and expensive and prevents people from joining such jobs. To become a pharmacist in Cameroon for example, many document need to be compiled.
• Trade union worker restrictions: they sometimes than the entry of workers into certain occupations except under hard condition.

Measures used to promote occupational mobility of labour.

• Opening of training centers: the creation of these centers will enable workers of these centers will enable workers gain new skills. This can enable them to move from their present occupations to new ones
• Relaxation of entry conditions into certain occupation: More people will be encourage to move into other occupations if the conditions of movement are reduced or stepped down.
• Provision of employment information: people can easily move from one occupation to another if job vacancies are made known of them via Radio, Press, Tv etc.
• Offering on the job training: Newly recruited people could be given some level of training so that they can move into new jobs easily or be able to handle that current position efficiently.
• The government should pass laws that restricts trade unions and other professional institution that limit movement into new occupation.

Effects of mobility of Labour

The effects of mobility of labour is in several ways

• It increases the supply of labour i.e. the number of hours offered for work and number of workers are the existing wage rage.
• The mobility of labour leads to an increase labour force and output in the reception area i.e. areas in need.
• Workers efficiency increases as workers need to aquire new knowledge and technique before being able to move.
• Mobility of labour increases revenue in the reception area. Since the number of tax payers will increase
• When labour move into a depopulated area It raises the population which makes use of the social structure and increases the market size.
• Negative mobility of labour may cause congestion if the area was originally populated.

Labour as a factor of production

demand and efficiency of labour

Mobility of labour

division of labour