mobility of labor

Definition

Extent to which the workers are able or willing to move between different jobs, occupations, and geographical areas. It is called horizontal mobility if it does not result in a change in the worker's grading or status, and vertical mobility if it does. Skilled workers have low occupational mobility but high geographical mobility; low-skilled or unskilled workers have high degrees of both types of mobility. Low labor-mobility causes structural unemployment, and governments try to avoid it by worker retraining schemes and by encouraging establishment of new industries in the affected areas.