Occupational Transition

It’s no secret that America is at an occupational crossroads. This type of occupational dilemma has been seen before in the nation’s history and was successfully overcome. This previous occupational transition began in the mid nineteenth century and leveled off two decades into the twentieth century. During this time span the American economy shifted from an agricultural based economy to an industrial based economy. Many American workers left the fields of the farm to work in the burgeoning factories around the country. Farm work was extremely laborious and the pay was very low. A worker could make a much better wage working in manufacturing without having to work as hard. It’s not hard to see why the number of manufacturing workers expanded
from 2.5 million workers to 10 million workers from 1880 to 1920