High technology à skills required by jobs

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Deskill

High level of skill required to operate tech

Skills given to machines not people

More autonomy - workers given freedom to apply their knowledge

Less autonomy - workers reduced to machine operators, e.g. McDonald's example from Garson reading

More information- decentralized & workers know more about what is going on, can make better decisions

Monitor easier – centralized. Supervisors & managers able to keep tighter control over workers, e.g. American Airlines example from Garson reading

How do we reconcile the two?

Depends on:

Workers (Are they organized? Can they resist? Do they?)

Managers (Do they care about tacit knowledge? Can the work be improved or made cheaper by new technology?)

GENERAL POINT: The same contingencies apply to this question as to our previous discussion of the conditions under which technical control could be applied to jobs.

Question:

Answer and reason:

The sectoral transformation of the LF refers to what historical shifts in employment?

Agriculture à manufacturing à services

• Efficient tech in agriculture freed up people to work in manufacturing
• Effiecent and higher productivity in manufacturing freed people up to work in services

Scientific management sought to minimize the time and effort required for factory workers to complete a task. In services, a parallel process is called…

Routinization: routinization is when exact procedures are detailed for dealing with a customer or preparing a service (standardization)

Architects, lawyers, and doctors offer what type of service?

Professional: professional services are those that are knowledge based services to enhance individuals, firms, and clients.

Why has the demand for services risen?

1. Services arise form new manufactured products
2. Services grow when market production replaces home production
3. Services grow when consumers have more disposable income
4. Demand for services is insatiable

• NOT because productivity manufacturing has dropped. This answer is not a reason for increase in services because manufacturing productivity has increased.

1. Commercialization of services once produced in home
2. Expansion of local and state government à social services (education is a good example)
3. Expansion of health care (hospitals, retirement homes, etc). Recall that 3 of the fastest growing occupations are in health care (see summary for Oct. 26)
4. Information-based economy à business services: FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate)

The proportion of North American LF that is employed in services is projected to:

Increase because of the enumerated points above.

Food for Thought: Why is the growth in the Service Sector important?

• Gender impact
• Good vs. bad jobs