Types of Unemployment

The word unemployment seems to be a familiar word for Indonesian people. News about unemployment that continues to increase often colors the news topics, both in television, print and on the internet.

Unemployment is often seen as a fairly complicated problem for society and also the country. The government together with the community in general, need to work hard to reduce unemployment, which actually continues to increase every year.

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What is unemployment?

The definition of unemployment is the number of labor force that cannot be absorbed in the world of work or not working. Unemployment is often seen as a problem that needs to be solved together.

To understand these various unemployment problems, we first need to know the types of unemployment that exist. Yes, unemployment can basically be divided into several types according to the number of hours worked and by the causes of unemployment. The following are the types of unemployment that need to be known.

Type of unemployment according to the number of hours worked

According to the number of hours worked, unemployment can be divided into two types, namely open unemployment and underemployment. The following is a description of the types of unemployment according to the number of hours worked.

1. Open unemployment

open unemployment is a part of the labor force that does not work or is looking for work, both for people who have never worked at all or for people who have worked, people who are preparing a business, people who are not looking for work because they feel it is impossible to get job, and people who already have jobs but have not yet started doing the work.

Simply put, these open unemployed are those whose daily activities are still not or do not do work, for whatever reason.

2. Half unemployed ( under employment )

Underemployment is included in the type of unemployment based on working hours which includes workers who work under normal working hours. That is, they are working but not optimal. This non-optimization in work is shown by the length of work that is less than 35 hours a week.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), this under employment is the difference in the number of workers a person actually does in his work than the amount of work that is normally able and wants to be done.

This half unemployed, can again be grouped into 3 types, namely half unemployment forced, half voluntary unemployment, and underemployment or hidden. The following statement.

2.a. Half Unemployed Forced ( Involuntary Under Employment )

Half unemployed people are forced to work less than 35 hours a week and are still trying to find work or are still willing to accept other jobs, because the wages received from the work they have done are not in line with the expectations of job seekers.

Examples of underemployed forced to for example a person who works as a cafe guard. He works four hours a day, while his salary is still low so he wants to use the remaining time to get another job. In addition, construction workers also do not work every day.

2.b. Half Voluntary Unemployment ( Voluntary under employment )

Half the voluntary admission is a person who works under normal working hours or 35 hours a week, but does not look for work or is not willing to accept other work.

An example of this voluntary underemployment is an Ali worker who only works at certain times, but his salary is very high. In addition, there are also people who rent out houses or businesses to get income, so even though they don’t work for up to 35 hours a week, their income is quite large.

2.c. Covert or hidden unemployment ( Disguished Unemployment )

This hidden unemployment is a workforce that is not working optimally because the institution or company where he works has an excess of labor. This hidden unemployment for example if in a cracker manufacturing company, there are ten workers. In fact, to be able to produce crackers optimally can be done by eight people. Thus, the two existing workers, including underemployment.

Also learn:  5 Theories of Economic Growth and Understanding

Types of Unemployment According to the Causes of Unemployment

When viewed according to the causes of unemployment, this type of unemployment can be divided into five types, namely conjuncture / cyclical unemployment, structural unemployment, frictional unemployment, seasonal unemployment, and technological unemployment. Following is an explanation of the types of unemployment according to the causes of unemployment.

1. Conjuncture / cyclical unemployment ( Cyclical Unemployment )

This conjuncture or cyclical unemployment is caused by a wave of conjuncture or changes in the ups and downs of economic conditions. When there is a downturn or economic setback, the demand for goods and services by the community will decrease.

If the demand of the community is sluggish, the amount of production will be reduced. This reduced amount of production is causing labor unused. This unused labor belongs to the type of cyclical unemployment.

For example, when there was a global financial crisis in 2008, many layoffs were carried out by the domestic garment industry. This layoff was carried out due to the demand for apparel products (garments) from abroad decreased due to poor economic conditions. Workers affected by layoffs are referred to as cyclical unemployment.

2. Structural unemployment ( structural unemployment )

Structural unemployment is unemployment that arises due to changes in the structure and style of economic activity as a result of economic development. For example, when a country experiences a change in economic structure from the agricultural sector to the industrial sector.

This condition causes the change of technology from human power to engine power. Such as in harvesting rice, in the past it took a lot of human labor in order to knock out rice. But, because there are many rice thresher machines that can be utilized, the need for human labor is reduced.

In addition, various other capital-intensive industrial establishments that utilize machine power have also begun to replace the role of human labor in the production process.

3. frictional unemployment ( frictional unemployment )

This frictional unemployment is also called transitional unemployment or transition. This type of unemployment arises because of the movement of labor from one sector to another or from one job to another.

Usually, unemployment is temporary, because it is caused by time gaps, geographical location and job vacancy information. This frictional unemployment can also be caused by the desire of job seekers to be able to get better, more challenging, or better support their future careers.

4. Unemployment seasonal ( seasonal unemployment )

Seasonal unemployment occurs periodically due to seasonal influences. Usually, this seasonal influence occurs in the agricultural sector. In the agricultural sector there is usually a waiting period between the planting season and the harvest season so that during these waiting periods they are unemployed.

In addition, seasonal unemployment is also common in buildings or property. When the demand for building and house construction projects increases, the builders can work. But, if the project is finished, they are no longer needed and return to unemployment.

5. Unemployment technology ( technological unemployment )

This technological unemployment is caused by the development of science and technology. The rapid development of science and technology makes companies have the opportunity to use modern and sophisticated technology on a large scale.

As a result of this, the company’s production capacity is increasing with the use of technology. On the other hand, there are many unused human workers.

by Abdullah Sam
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