society occupations

Though the Federation operates without a monetary economy most people still work in jobs or other occupations. Though idleness is frowned upon, participation in these occupations is entirely voluntary, though there is a lot of competition for certain positions most people generally get to work in a job they enjoy, and without any constricting contracts people are free to try as many different occupations as they want. Despite there are these differences in many respects the system is similar to those before, and career advancement and personal fame drive citizens to excel in their chosen field.

The distribution of the Federation’s workforce is somewhat different to an earlier industrial society, smart computing and automation has made most of the bulk processing autonomous of supervision, as a result the remaining positions in the production industries tends to be at the higher levels. By contrast now that these industries operate on only a fraction of the workforce a much larger proportion of the workforce now operate within their communities. Where as communities before had to sacrifice workforce for minimal function to keep costs down, the Federation can devote as many as is required, the major result is that society as a whole has become a whole lot more personally involving, people have moved beyond parts of the machine, and personal engagement has become of major importance.

Though industry and community positions occupy a large number of the total workforce, other sectors have benefited from the increased available workforce. One of these sectors is science, which has also benefited from the fact that taking additional education no longer incurs financial penalties, and this has resulted in an increasingly enlightened population from which science has benefited.

The new area of interstellar travel, in particular starships crews, is an incredibly popular area, often competition makes getting a placement very difficult, though pure academic training is open to all (this also ensures that in crisis times the Federation can draw upon a reserve of qualified personnel). Though very popular this area only draws upon a fraction of the total workforce, it is in fact very much smaller than the scientific community, and the dedicated Federation military even smaller still.

Most people choose occupation which interest them, and take education to tailored to this interest, because of this most applicants for a position will be highly qualified for the job, also additional education and training will be part of that post, and so the person will steadily gain experience in that field and have a better chance in any competition for higher posts. Though education is important for suitability in a given job, it is not the only consideration, previous experience and particular talents are also considered. Generally the employer will interview applicants, in most cases this is only a cursory check for suitability, in these sessions the applicant will be informed to what they will be expected to do and how the team works. Only in oversubscribed positions will an applicant receive an interview but with no guarantee of placement, in most other cases the interview merely serves as the last part of the process as reference checks and prior conversations will have established the placement.

Information about available placements can easily be found on the Federation’s information channels, most people get in contact with the careers bureau and their personal desires and dreams can then be tailored to education and placement positions which they then can receive as they appear.

Most citizens start to pursue a particular career early in their education, and higher education is tailored towards these interests, in addition talks and open days in these fields are brought to attention, and generally most people have a placement open for them when they finish their education. Although the Federation is a big place, most planets have a whole range of job sectors available and most people can find a profession on their own worlds of residence, however if they pursue their profession at the highest level they may need to access institutions on other worlds, this is no great problem in itself as the transport systems are more than adequate to commute between worlds. However the greater problem is the time difference between worlds, this not only can leave you terrible time-lagged and play hob with any daily routine, it can also change the team that you work with. To avoid this most institutions have residential housing for their workers, this is by far the norm for scientific establishments. People may also move into specialist communities that develop around their profession, for example the asteroid colonies of the science and starfaring communities, the idea of these environments is to remove the place of work from any particular building and move it into the public, also people can get to know people within the team on a more social basis and everything is made more flexible.

            The ultimate goal is getting everyone in a position in which they enjoy and feel that they are making an important contribution to the whole. By in large the system works, and the Federation enjoys adequate supply of workforce to all its areas, in addition people are happy and fulfilled doing what they want. The fact that people do not need a job to survive anymore is a good part of this, this security allows people to aspire higher and realise what they dream, without having to sacrifice these goals so that they can survive.