Labor Assets & Call of Duty

An article by Faizan Haq is published in Your Bliss Magazine.

Labor Day weekend is an opportunity for the union of families, friends, and loved ones. It is one of the few long weekend holidays that defines American traditions and cultural celebrations. If we look into the history of Labor Day commemoration it is full of sacrifice, sweat, and blood. Our labor, of all sorts, is a true national asset; it provides the backbone of a country's economy and the strength to fight adversarial competition. 

In the last few decades, we have lost the technical know-how and foundational skill set needed to drive an industrial, technical, and information-based economy. Our corporations were too busy outsourcing while ignoring the national asset of our own country, our labor. As soon as we mention the word labor our imagination takes us to the coal mines of Pennsylvania the workers in the auto sweatshops or the construction laborers climbing up skyscrapers risking their lives. We have come a long way from there. However, it does not mean that the need of labor or the responsibility of taking care of them has diminished. Our call to duty is to protect, preserve, and enhance our national assets such as our laborers. Dedicated resources not only from the public domain but also from the private sector shall invest and reinvest in endless training and upgrading of the skills of our laborers. Our mid-level management or upper-level administration should stop thinking that they are insulated from the high trends of international outsourcing. It is not our claim that outsourcing is a bad strategy but our urge is to balance it with U.S. labor upgrading that can take on international challenges.

All men and women associated with labor-intensive jobs must understand that change is inevitable. If not outsourcing, then technical advances change the world we work in, if not technology then the climate will define new work environments in this ever-evolving world. The only constant is change. In this context they must keep themselves prepared with the highest work ethics and unbeaten morale while continuously improving, gaining, and learning new skills. Let's make a national commitment to not only value all our laborers but also to designate resources to make them more competitive in a world that is internationally integrated.



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