Hello, welcome to this blog on the topic, Classification and types of occupation.
Table Of Contents
- Meaning of occupation
- Classification of occupation
- Types of occupation
- Examples
- Revision Questions
Meaning: Occupation can be defined as any economic or productive activities which people engage in to create and procure goods and services in order to make a living. Today, people engage in various activities to earn a living and to satisfy their numerous wants.
Human being have unlimited wants, while the resources meant for the satisfaction of this wants are limited. In order to satisfy these numerous wants, people engage in one occupation or another, at least to meet up with the three basic needs of Man which are food, shelter and clothing in addition to other needs that make life more comfortable.
There are various kinds of occupation that a person can do to earn decent living. Some occupations involved extracting resources from the soil and water, e.g, farming, fishing, mining or changing the form of raw materials to finished or semi finished goods, e.g, manufacturing while others provide services like police, doctors, sailors, pilots, teaching and driving.
THE CASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF OCCUPATION
Businesses are classified according to the nature of the work involved. Therefore, occupation can be classified into three main groups, namely:
- Industry
- Commerce
- Services.
A. INDUSTRY: (Classification and types of Occupation)
Definition: Industry consists of the activities geared towards the production of goods and through extraction, manufacturing and construction. All the people who engage in extraction, manufacturing and construction industry, i.e, industrial activities are classified as industrial occupation.
An industrial occupation involved those who engage in the physical production of goods or changing of raw materials into finished or semi-finished products. In other words, industrial occupation refers to all those activities involving the extraction and processing of raw material into finished or semi-finished goods. They also include the assembling and putting of components parts together to make or organized whole.
EXAMPLES OF INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS
- Extraction
- Manufacturing
- Construction
EXAMPLES OF INDUSTRIAL WORKERS ARE
- Farmers
- Fisherman
- Manufacturer
- Welders
- Carpenters
- Miners
- Plumbers.
Types of Industrial Occupation
- Extractive occupation
- Manufacturing occupation
- Constructive occupation
1. Extractive occupation: The extractive Industries are those who engage in obtaining raw materials and natural resources from the soil or sea. The extractive occupation is concerned with making available raw materials and natural products from the land or sea.
Examples of product of extractive occupation are:
- Cocoa
- Cotton
- Iron ore
- and crude oil. It is referred to as the primary stage of production.
Examples of extractive occupation are;
- Farming
- Fishing
- Mining
- Quarrying
- Forestry or lumbering
- and hunting.
2. Manufacturing occupation: Manufacturing occupation is concerned with the activities of those who engage in processing and turning raw materials produced in the primary industry into finished products. The raw materials or natural resources are transforming to finish product after going through different processes to add value and utility. Then engage in utilizing or using the raw materials to produce finished goods.
Examples of Manufacturing Occupation are:
- Shoe making
- Textile processing
- Food processing
- Plastic processing
- Rubber processing.
3. Constructive occupation: Constructive occupation is concerned with all the activities of those who engage in assembling of goods manufactured into usable form. They convert manufactured product into various uses. They engage in constructing roads, Bridges, houses, etc. All the various components extracted and manufactured are converted into usable form.
Examples of Constructive Occupations are:
- Road construction
- Building construction
- Airport construction
- Bridge construction
- GoldSmith
- Furniture construction
B. COMMERCE (Classification and types of Occupation)
Definition: Commerce can simply be defined as all those activities involved in the distribution and exchange of goods and services. Commerce deal with the various activities which enables the produced goods to reach the final consumer.
Commercial Occupation: This refers to all the people involved in the distribution and exchange of goods produced by the industrial sector.
Examples of Commercial workers are
- Bankers
- Transporter
- Traders
- Insurers
- Advertisers
- Importers
- Exporter
- Postmasters
Commerce is the process of buying and selling and distribution of goods and services. It include all occupations that are concerned with the trade and other activities that wil ensure effective and efficient distribution of goods and services. This services are referred to as auxiliaries to trade and they are transportation, banking, insurance, tourism and advertising. Those who belongs to this category help distribute goods and services produced by the Industries.
Types of Commercial Occupation
Activities of those who engage in Commercial occupation are:
- Trading: Trading is concerned with the activities of all the people who engage in the act of buying and selling of goods and services. When trading activities occur within a country, wholesalers and retailers are engaged while foreign trading involved import and export. Read more about trade and types of trade [here]
- Insurance: Insurance is concerned with the activities of people who undertake to protect individuals or businesses against risk in their day-to-day operations. These people are insurance brokers, underwriters and agents.
- Banking: Banking as a commercial occupation includes people who assist others to have money for their daily needs. They also provide capital for those embarking on industrial activities and saving facilities, e.g. bankers in Commercial and merchant banks.
- Advertising: Advertising involves the Business of providing information about the existence of a product to the potential buyers. Advertising creates awareness for the products. e.g, advertising agents
- Transportation: Transportation is the is concerned with the movement of goods and services to where they are needed. This is concerned with all the activities that ensure effective transportation system. Those who engage in this services are drivers, pilot, sailors, etc.
- Warehousing: The people involve a warehouse managers, clerks, etc. They are concerned with ensuring that goods produce are stored until they are needed for consumption. This will bring about study supply of goods.
- Tourism: Tourism is concerned with all the activities of those who engaged in creating tourist attraction in different tourist centers, e.g, guides in national Park.
- Communication: Communication include all activities which promotes rapid transmission of messages between senders and receivers from one place to another, e.g, carrier service providers and telephone operators.
C. SERVICES (Classification and types of occupation)
Definition: Service occupations are sometimes classified as tertiary occupation. These are occupation that render services to the people. Services involve doing something for the consumer which could be personal or indirect services directly or indirectly.
Types of service occupation
1. Direct service: Direct service include personal services rendered for direct consumption and are paid for directly by those who enjoy the services. Those who engage in this form of occupations are:
- Housemaids
- Stewards
- Entertainers
- Family doctors
- Barbers
- Lawyers in private practices, etc.
The services satisfy human wants, hence it is part of production. The service provider has a direct contact with the consumer.
2. Indirect Service: indirect service include services rendered to the general public but they are not paid for by the members of the public directly. The government will pay from taxes and Levies paid by the public. Therefore, those involved render indirect service and are paid indirectly by the public.
Examples of indirect services include:
- Doctors working in public hospitals.
- Police force
- Soldiers
- Custom officers
- Civil servants
- Lawmakers.
Revision Questions
- Define occupation
- What are the classifications of occupation and give example of each classification?
- List any any four factors affecting employment
- (a) Define industry (b) explain five types of commercial occupations and three industrial occupations.
- (a) Differentiate between (i) industrial occupation (ii) commercial occupation (b) give examples each (i) industrial workers (ii) commercial workers (iii) direct service workers.
- (a) differentiate between industry and Commerce (b) list and explain four activities of those engage in commercial occupations