decisions about what they will do with their labour services, they will not
always move to a different job just because they could earn a higher
wage.
Nevertheless, labour is mobile among industries, occupations, and
regions in response to changes in the signals provided by wages and
opportunities for employment. The ease with which such mobility occurs
depends on many forces. For example, it is not difficult for a travel agent
to shift from one company to another in order to take a job in Edmonton
instead of Regina, but it can be difficult for the same travel agent to
become an editor, a model, a machinist, or a doctor within a short period
of time. Workers who lack ability, training, or inclination find certain
kinds of mobility difficult or impossible.
Some barriers to movement may be virtually insurmountable once a
person’s training has been completed. For example, it may be impossible
for a farmer to become a surgeon or for a truck driver to become a
professional athlete, even if the relative wage rates change greatly.
However, the children of farmers, doctors, truck drivers, and athletes,
when they are deciding how much education or training to obtain, are not
nearly as limited in their choices as their parents, who have already
completed their education and are settled in their occupations.
The labour force as a whole is mobile, even though many individual members in it are not.