Technology and Employment Innovation and Growth in the U.S. Economy (1987) / Chapter Skim
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6: Technological Change and the Work Environment
6: Technological Change and the Work Environment
Pages 122-136
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From page 122... ...
Cooperation between labor and management is essential to address worker concerns about employment security and to plan the large-scale adoption of new technology and the development of new systems for job classification and compensation. New technologies also may have important effects on health and safety in the workplace, imposing new demands on private and public policies and organizations charged with responsibility for regulating workplace hazards.
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From page 123... ...
The organizational structure of the modern U.S. manufacturing firm arose during the late nineteenth century in response to innovations in production processes that favored the development of continuous-flow, massproduction technologies for the manufacture of goods.
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From page 124... ...
The production assembly line had an analogue in the large keypunching and data-entry "back-room" operations of the central management staff of manufacturing and nonmanufacturing firms. Although controlling the pace of work and the structure of jobs was the exclusive province of management within this work environment, unions sought to establish internal employment regulations based on seniority and job classifications.
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From page 125... ...
Much of the work control function formerly performed by supervisors and middle managers is now superfluous increasingly, control and monitoring activities are embodied in hardware and software installed on a production line or at a desktop computer or workstation. The displacement (or reduced employment growth)
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From page 126... ...
International collaboration in the development of commercial aircraft, engines, and other products relies heavily on the rapid digital transmission of design and test data through satellite links, as well as on the exchange of design, engineering, and test data and specifications on computer tapes (Brooks and Guile, 1987; Mowery, 19871. Domestic and international technology transfer among firms in many manufacturing industries will increase considerably as a result of collaboration among firms in product research and development.
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From page 127... ...
Serious disincentives to investment by firms in such training arise from its costs, which may be particularly burdensome for small firms, and the fact that it may be difficult for firms to recover the fruits of their investments in training (see Chapter 71. As we noted in Chapter 4, the increased use of advanced manufacturing technologies means that worker productivity will depend more on mental ability than on physical effort.
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From page 128... ...
Much of this upgrading reflected changes in the occupational mix within industries, rather than shifts in the relative importance of sectors with contrasting occupational mixes: "This turn-around of the relative importance of intra-industry occupational shifts on total occupational change is-if continued-of major importance, because it implies possibilities for future occupational upgrading even after the industrial transformation towards a service economy has been completed" (Singelmann and Tienda, 1985, p. 64~.2 Technological change thus does not appear to be systematically "deskilling" workers or creating a two-tiered work force, although additional evidence on occupational trends and continued monitoring are needed.
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From page 129... ...
First, successful adoption of new technology requires strong assurances from management to the work force concerning job security. These assurances enable management to retain the loyalty and commitment of the work force and may reduce turnover rates among workers who have been retrained at considerable
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From page 130... ...
Such a strategy appears to yield considerable payoffs for both management and labor, producing a more highly skilled, motivated work force with lower turnover rates. Job classification, seniority, and pay structures may require considerable modification to realize the potential payoffs from the adoption of new technologies.
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From page 131... ...
Katz (1985) and others have noted that collective bargaining between industrial unions and employers over employment security, job reclassification, and other issues related to technology adoption is introducing differences in the financial and other provisions of contracts between a single union and different firms (and different plants operated by a single firm)
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From page 132... ...
Even in those workplaces in which labor and management historically have not been in conDict, serious misconceptions on both sides may impede the pursuit of best-practice policies. The manager of the General Electric household appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, a model of labor-management cooperation in the adoption of new production technologies that have improved product quality, was amazed at the level of worker interest in the new production and marketing strategies that were an important part of the reorganization of plant operations: We [General Electric-Louisville plant management]
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From page 133... ...
The savings from lower work force absenteeism and turnover, for example, or higher product quality and shorter product development cycles are not easily captured within conventional accounting methods, which look at individual operations or processing steps and may not account fully for all components of overhead or fixed costs. We are concerned by the slow adoption of new process technologies in some manufacturing industries and the frequent inability of U.S.
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From page 134... ...
Proper design of equipment and the workplace, as well as training, also can minimize the symptoms of eyestrain, back strain, and wrist strain that occur among clerical employees using computer terminals and other electronic displays for extended periods. Technology's Potential for Reducing Workplace Hazards Information and computer-based manufacturing technologies have significant promise for reducing workplace hazards.
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From page 135... ...
In addition, new technologies increasingly will be found in offices rather than on assembly lines; they will also be found in establishments with work forces that include larger shares of women. Employment growth is likely to be most rapid in sectors that historically have not had extensive union representation, which means that internal pressures for monitoring workplace health and safety may be less intense within some firms.
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From page 136... ...
136 TECHNOLOGYAND EMPLOYMENT This brief survey is intended to highlight important emerging issues in the area of workplace safety and health. Rather than developing specific findings, we wish to ensure that the potential hazards created by these technologies are investigated promptly and then carefully monitored, that efforts are undertaken to exploit the potential of these technologies for reducing workplace safety and health hazards, and that the effectiveness of existing regulatory structures for the workplace of the future receive appropriate consideration.
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