Through the history of the workplace, we have seen the creation and development of labor specialization. Labor specialization, also known as the "division of labor," is a technique used by firms which separates workers into certain jobs. This allows for companies to produce at an efficient rate while maintaining quality production of their products. We saw the development of this strategy through Henry Ford's automobile assembly line. As workers were assigned specific jobs in the assembly line they became quickly proficient at their work, speeding up the overall process.
There are many great reasons why companies choose to use labor specialization today. Firstly, workers develop a defined skillset. This is extremely important. With a skill set that individual workers utilize, product can be produced much more efficiently. The better the product and the faster it is produced, the more money is to be made. A second advantage to this concept is costs of error will be minimized. With every employee trained and proficient in their respective job, mistakes would be unlikely. As we know, the more mistakes that are made, the more money must be spent. By limiting this, companies can be much more successful. Lastly, there is no need for supervision in this type of labor. With everyone aware of exactly what they need to do, there does not need to be a manager constantly looking over them. This again leads to an increase of production, because labor can be efficiently spread out.
Although we think of labor specialization as a purely beneficial concept, this is not always the case. The main problem with this is that jobs simply become boring. It is not fun for a worker to do the same thing day in and day out. It is important that workers have variety in their work for this reason, and without it, many would slack off or even quit. Another con to labor specialization is workers develop a limited skillset. If trained to do a specific job, worker would not be able to work in other fields. This is detrimental to both the company and the individual. Companies can move around their employees, and individuals may have a hard time finding other jobs outside of where they are currently working.
It is important to recognize the pros and cons of labor specialization, and to make sure it is not overused.
https://content.wisestep.com/advantages-disadvantages-work-specialisation/
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I think this is a great explanation of labor specialization and the pros and cons of it. Another con that may occur is if there's an exodus of a decent amount of workers all specialized in the same area, this could create issues within the company. They would have to replace these workers which would take time and slow down the production. These new workers may also not perform as well as the previous ones which will also decrease the efficiency of the workplace. Both of these may lower the revenue due to a lower product output.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is interesting because I've never though of the cons of specialization before, as people usually need to specialize in something to get a higher paying job, since, as you said, they know the task better and make less mistakes. I didn't think of the boredom that specialization causes as the result of the jobs being boring, and not specialization itself, but it makes sense now that you've explained it. One thing I'm wondering is if adding different things to do at a workplace, such as recreational activities, would decrease boredom and thus increase productivity.
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