Full employment
Full employment is the economic concept that refers to a situation where the entire active population of a country is working. This situation would imply that the markets are in perfect balance, companies would have no problem finding qualified personnel for their jobs and citizens would find employment at any time.
The concept of full employment[1] is rather theoretical since it is hard to find a real case where unemployment is exactly zero. In practice, the labor market presents many imperfections: the workforce is always changing, people come and go to work for many reasons such as different interests, moving to another country, starting a new job or studies, etc. It is practically impossible to reach an exact moment in which the demand and supply of labor are equal, but it is an ideal situation and everything that means approaching it is positive, socially and economically speaking.
Ways to reach full employment
There are two major currents of thought that diverge in terms of the methodology to follow:
- Keynesianism. The defenders of this current affirm that the supply and demand of the labor system cannot be adjusted automatically, being the State responsible for intervening in times of recession, and recovering the employment rate in the country. Keynes thought that unemployment was one of the main faults of capitalism and a natural product of the market forces, so it was neccesary to apply the right policies to solve it.
- Liberalism. The liberals assure that, in order for the country to enjoy a situation of full employment, the presence of free competition in the markets is necessary. In this situation, the State would simply adjust the legal framework to defend this free competition and protect business initiative.
Regardless of the thoughts that each current or individual has, full employment must be one of the main objectives for each country, despite the impossibility of putting the concept into practice. Work, in many places, is considered a "human right" that all its inhabitants have, so the achievement of this objective is essential for social and economic well-being.
That is why in recent years many goverments have implemented what is called a job guarantee, or the employer of last resort (ELR)[2] proposal programs, helping people willing to work who, for any reason, can't find a job in the private sector.
