CAREER GUIDANCE

Career Guidance



Career Guidance

Introduction

The challenges that career education and guidance in Countries of UK one have to face over the next few decades are inextricably linked with the current transitional state in the development of the island's economy. This article propose first of all to present an overview of the prevailing economic scenario, and the changes that are taking place as well as those that are likely to take place in the near future. This will provide the appropriate context so that the characteristics of the emergent labour market can be identified. It is on the basis of these same characteristics that implications can be derived for the practice of career guidance at the start of the next millennium. This paper examinines the influence of social and political policy on the delivery of career guidance in the countries of the UK.

Key characteristics of the Emergent Labour Market

In the preceding sections we have given a sense of the economic fortunes of the People in countries of UK islands, highlighting both its present affluence and past indigence to show the extent to which the future remains obscure, given the dependence peripherality and vulnerability which, we have argued, are the elements of continuity in the drama of changing economic fortunes. Will membership of the European Union accelerate the modernization of the economy, or will it simply reinforce the perceptions of international capital with a European base that Countries of UK is another useful source of low ability, low waged work? Will the tourist industry successfully weather out the winds of political instability blowing over the Mediterranean? Will Countries of UK's attempts to identify niche markets in the high technology sector result in high cost investments with little tangible returns as international capital flies East and towards the Pacific Rim? These and a host of other questions have, of course, no definite answer, but given the analysis provided above, one could nevertheless hazard an outline of the key characteristics of the emergent People in countries of UK labour market, in order to be in a better position to tease out the implications for the future of career guidance. These characteristics are:

• A market in transition, characterised by a work force that is literate, numerate, flexible, adaptable and teachable (Herr, 2004).

• A shift from labour-intensive, relatively unskilled and cheap blue-collar work in the manufacturing industry to the service sector, where higher ability, higher waged work is expected.

• A renewed emphasis on lifelong learning, on communication skills, foreign languages and information technology.

• An increasing labour force participation rate on the part of women, even if much of this is on a part-time basis.

• A diminution of employment opportunities in the public sector, with job creation being encouraged in the private sector.

• An intensification of state control of the underground economy, which currently accounts for between 20 to 30% of the GDP.

• An increase in part-time work opportunities for all.

• An erosion of the concept of life-long job security, irrespective of ...