Occupation can be defined as any job that is legal in which people are engaged in order to earn a living.
CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS
Occupations are classified into six major divisions namely:
- Extractive Occupation
- Manufacturing Occupation
- Constructive Occupation
- Commercial Occupation
- Direct Services
- Indirect Services
- EXTRACTIVE OCCUPATION: This involves all kinds of works concerned with the extraction of natural resources from the soil, the sea or forest eg farming, fishing, hunting, lumbering, mining, quarrying etc.
- MANUFACTURING OCCUPATION: Workers involved in this occupation are engaged in changing the form of raw materials extracted from the soil or sea into finished or semi – finished products e.g. raw rubber to vehicle tires, raw cotton to textile material etc.
- CONSTRUCTIVE OCCUPATION: Workers involved in this occupation are engaged in assembling the various components from extractive and manufacturing industry and building them into organized usable structures eg bringing iron rod, cement, planks, sand, corrugated iron sheet to make a building.
EVALUATION
- Give four examples of extractive occupations.
- Give three examples of commercial occupations.
- COMMERCIAL OCCUPATION: This is referred to as secondary occupation and comprises those groups of people who make it possible for goods and services produced to be made available to people who need them e.g. Insurance, transport, advertising, warehousing, communication, banking and finance.
- DIRECT SERVICES: These include those whose economic activities involves giving satisfaction, amusement, entertainment and rendering personal services to others. They are services rendered directly and paid for directly e.g. barbing, musicians, doctors, steward, driver’s actors etc
- INDIRECT SERVICES: These involve those who earn their living by rendering services to the public. The workers involved are paid by the government for the services they render e.g. civil servants, policemen, soldiers, customs, fire service personnel etc.
FACTORS INFLUENCING OCCUPATION
(i) Education and Training (ii) Natural skills and talent (iii) Remuneration
(iv) Government policy (v) Personal interest (vi) Nature of the job available
(vii) Age (viii) Sex (ix) Customs / family background (x) Geographical features
(xi) Natural Resources Endowment (xii) Extraneous factors e.g. health, life ambitions, peer pressure etc.
EVALUATION
- Draw a diagram showing the six classifications of occupations.
- Differentiate between Direct Services and Indirect Services.
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
- Which of the following is concerned with changing raw materials to finished goods? (a) Extractive occupation (b) Manufacturing occupation (c) Constructive occupation (d) Commercial occupation
- Which of the following is not a function of commerce? (a) advertising goods (b) creation of goods (c) increasing profit made (d) distribution of goods.
- An industry whose major actors consist of those engaged in sourcing raw materials from the earth surface is known as __________ industry (a) commercial (b) construction (c) extractive (d) mining.
- The services offered by the following people could be grouped under direct services except (a) Doctors (b) entertainers (c) policemen (d) teachers.
- The services of a teacher is in the classification of (a) commerce (b) direct services (c) extractive occupation (d) indirect services.
THEORY
- List any four factors that affect employment.
- Give four examples of commercial occupations.
GENERAL EVALUATION
- State three ways in which businesses contribute to the development of the nation.
- Explain with the aid of a diagram, the main divisions of Commerce.
- List five importance of Commerce to the economy of Nigeria.
- State five aids to trade and explain how each facilitates trade.
- Describe five ways by which commercial banks facilitates trading activities
See also