Page 44 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 2 • Social and Ethical Environment of Business

The baby bust period has created a shortage of young
workers, called “busters.” This shortage will con-
tinue to create serious problems, especially when the
boomers retire in large numbers.
Businesses must be prepared to offer the kinds of
goods and services needed by people of different age
and racial groups. For instance, because of the in-
crease of Spanish-speaking people, some newspapers
and magazines publish Spanish-language editions.
As people live longer, food companies continue to
develop special foods and products for the elderly.

MOVING POPULATION PHOTO: © GETTY IMAGES/PHOTODISC.
Americans are people on the move. Every year, on
average, one out of five Americans changes his or
her address. People move short distances, often from
cities to suburbs. They also move long distances,
such as from the Frost Belt, the colder northern half
of the country, to the Sun Belt, the warmer southern
half of the nation. As businesses relocate to where customers are located, they How has the “baby bust”
affect where other people move to in order to find jobs. For example, factories period affected the supply of
have relocated to the southeastern states, where wage rates are lower than in the young workers in business?
Rust Belt—the north central and northeastern states where the major manufactur-
ing firms once dominated. As illustrated at the beginning of this chapter, the
Quest Company decided to move from Ohio to Georgia to lower its labor and
other costs.
The continuing movement of people from the city to the suburbs and from
the north to the south has led to many unintended consequences. When fami-
lies and businesses leave cities in large numbers, the cities lose the financial
ability to provide high-quality services. As a result, crime and poverty have
increased in some large cities. Many southern states such as Georgia and Florida
have experienced rapid economic and industrial growth. When businesses move
from the Rust Belt, they leave behind unemployed workers, closed factories,
decaying towns, and homeless people. However, in recent years, political and
business leaders have taken bold steps to revitalize cities and communities in
the northern states.

CHECKPOINT

What factors are influencing shifts in the U.S. population?

Success tip

Labor Force Job competition can be very
intense. Consider yourself
As the population grows, so does the labor force. The labor force includes most to be a bundle of skills that
people aged 16 or over who are available for work, whether employed or unem- businesses will buy. Identify
ployed. Of course, many of the people in the labor force may be available for the skills that make you
work but are not actively seeking employment, such as students and full-time unique and appealing to
homemakers. In a recent year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the a business.

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