Social mobility in a post industrial society: The role of an occupation classification and its required attributes

Abstract

Highly developed societies are characterised by a growing share of services and a diminishing share of production of goods in their economies. This rapidly changing structural transformation is in turn resulting in substantial intergenerational and intragenerational social mobility as opportunities arise in emerging industries and new occupations. The paper postulates that skill level will increasingly determine social status in a post industrial society. The paper traces some of the thinking behind the development of the 1986 Australian Standard Classification of Occupations which utilises skill level as its primary classificatory variable and demonstrates the usefulness of the classification in tracking labour market changes over the last decade. The paper concludes by outlining some of the modifications made to the classification in the light of its utilisation over the last decade which has led to a revised occupation classification coming into effect in May 1996.