(a) What is mobility of labour?
(b) What factors serve as obstacles to occupational mobility of labour?
Explanation
(a) Mobility of labour refers to the ease with which labour can move from one job to another which is called occupational mobility of labour; and the ease with which labour moves from one area to another which is called geographical mobility of labour.
(b) Obstacles to occupational mobility of labour include:
(i) Cost: the cost of retraining may be a problem in terms of money and length of time
(ii) Ability or aptitude: certain jobs require natural ability, e.g. football.
(iii) Employment prospects/ age: After a certain age (e.g. 45), employers will not engage such people. They have poor prospects for an employer as they only have short working life.
(iv) Trade union / professional association restrictions: professional bodies (accounting, law) require certain qualifications before-admission.
(v) Personal reasons: personal preference for a particular job and dislike for available alternatives may dis-courage movements.
(vi) Family and friendly ties.
(vii) Political instability / Religion.