34)Businesses should hire employees for their entire lives. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

The length of time an employee is hired for is a matter of some debate. On one hand unions want to guarantee job security and feel that employees should be hired for life, while other people argue that a business has the right to hire and fire employees at will. I believe that hiring an employee for a lifetime of employment restricts both the employee and the company doing the hiring.

First, employees with lifetime employment contracts would be unable to advance within the company. For example, recent university graduates gaining entry level positions at a company are only taking the first of many steps in a long path to their career goals. However, if they were restricted to the same job within a company for their entire life, they would be unable to advance to positions of higher salary and more responsibilities. A variety of jobs teaches employees skills and provides experience, something that allows them to explore their potential. Eliminating the process of advancement would be a seriously detrimental to employee motivation.

Second, businesses hiring employees for life would no longer be competitive. A company without a regular influx of employees runs the risk of becoming stagnant. Businesses need to adapt and change and employees are what help them do it. Employees knowing they had a lifetime in their position would have little motivation and less overall productivity. Therefore, the overall efficiency and competitiveness of the business would fall. To improve competitiveness and future prospects, businesses need to be able to hire and fire employees at their discretion.

In conclusion, I believe that employees hired for their entire lives would be a serious disadvantage to both the business and the employee. Without the possibility of advancing, employees would be unable to explore their career goals and gain the necessary experience. Employees would also have little motivation, which would be reflected in the performance of the business. Employees hired for a lifetime would destroy the potential of businesses as well as the employees themselves.