2. Deskilling
• It was thought that the machines brought with
industrialization would reduce the skill needed
by people.
• Up to now, skill has still been needed—just the
types of skills have evolved
• Similar questions arise with increasing
computerization
• Some theorists do believe, however, that work
is increasingly deskilled
3. Braverman’s Labor and Monopoly Capital
• Braverman’s 1974 book uses Marx’s theories
• Workers must sell their labor to employers
• Employers must make a profit or go out of business
• Braverman examined how the workforce is shaped by the accumulation of capital
• Under this system, the capitalist increasingly exerts control over the work process
to maximize labor and thus profit
• Instead of workers being an expert at their job, their tasks are simplified, and
the owners regain that power.
4. Braverman’s influence
• In the 20th century, industrial technology had somewhat plateaued. To increase
efficiency and profit, it was necessary to look at changes in management and the
workforce.
• Braverman’s book was essentially about Taylor (a very important theorist)
• Taylor looked at workers as lazy. They were just trying to work hard enough to
get by.
• Work was still planned and executed by workers so Taylor saw managers as also
lazy in a way.
5. Taylorism
Taylor suggested that management should be
looked at scientifically
• Adopt what is proven to work and change what is proven to
not work
Management should take control of the labor
process
• It didn’t matter how small the task. There is a process for
cleaning the toilet
Taylor’s plan was:
• Take the knowledge of the workers
• Classify and reduce this knowledge to rules
• Centralize this knowledge in a planning department
• How long should each step take?
• How can each step be done the fastest?
6. Effects of
Taylorism
Have you ever heard someone complain about their work?
They would say something like “without me, that place
would fall apart” or “I could run that place, management is
stupid”
This is what Taylor was preventing. He wanted the knowhow
to be with management. The company doesn’t need
you…you need them.
To do this, we need to break down the job into small tasks so
you only know how to do a few small things.
Now you are not this valuable person to the company but
just a worker. Anyone can do your job—it’s de-skilled and
paid less
7. Other
effects of
Taylorism
The previous slide sounds only bad for the worker
Taylor saw that with lower production costs and increased
profit, the workers could get paid more
Additionally, products become cheaper for everyone
You get more money, stuff becomes more affordable, it
makes your work conditions worth it.
The questions become: are the workers really going to get
paid more? Is the higher pay a good trade-off for monotony?
8. What about
white-collar
work
• The same hold true for offices
• Think about office jobs. Accountant, billing, purchasing,
receiving, payroll—these are all jobs around just the
money part.
• The person in purchasing only buys things that they are
told to buy. They only pay for things. That is their entire
job—pay for something.
• Where does that money come from? Why are they
buying it? Who is going to pay for when the bill comes?
They don’t know. The control is taken from them and
given to management.
• And technology like computers and the internet? That is
just a way for management to monitor their job. They can
see how many things the purchaser is buying or not
buying.
9. Upskilling
• Braverman concluded his book by discussing the notion
of upskilling
• This is the idea that jobs are actually requiring more skill
and education. But let’s look at what this really is:
• Yes, jobs are moving from manual labor to non-
manual. However, is this really a change in skill?
Instead of stamping “made in xxx” on a product in a
factory, you are stamping “paid” on papers and filing
them in an air-conditioned office. Is that upskilling?
• Yes, there are more people in school and for longer.
Are graduated people getting great jobs with the
history degree? Is the job one that needed that
much education?
• School has another purpose of lowering the
unemployment rate. When everyone is getting a
degree, you need one to to be competitive
10. Critique of
Braverman’s
Thesis
• They were not a majority of the workforce
• He didn’t consider occupations like farming or
domestic servants
• Most office-type work has always been
performed by low level clerks who didn’t require
a lot of education
He over-emphasized skilled craftsmen
• Skills of women at the time (like caring, social,
and emotional) were not considered or
undervalued
• Did not consider female-dominated jobs like
nursing or teaching
Gender Bias
11. David Bell’s Upskilling
Thesis
• Although most sociologists agree with
Breverman’s work, Bell noted that a future
post-industrial economy (he was writing in
1976) would be characterized by:
• Services rather than goods
• Information rather than energy
• Skills dividing classes rather than
property
• Post-industrial society is a knowledge
society
• He pointed to an increase in
education around science and
engineering
• Decline in semi-skilled manual jobs
12. Qualitative
Changes in
the
Workplace
Because we are engaged more
in service-work, people tend to
talk to each other rather than a
machine
•Therefore, work relationships and
communication are more valued than
brute strength.
Instead of a hierarchy,
companies are encouraging co-
operation through committees
and participation
To be efficient, companies need
to break down to smaller units.
It can’t be all centrally
controlled anymore
These changes above require
skills rather than just doing the
same task again and again
13. Polarization of
Skill
There is a group
suggesting jobs are
becoming deskilled.
Another group
suggests jobs are
becoming upskilled.
• These are performed by perhaps
20% of society
• Concentrated with the white
majority
A third group suggests
that there is a minority
of jobs which are
rewarding, creative,
high-paying, and
require a lot of skill
• These are performed by the
majority of society (perhaps
80%)
• Dominated by minorities
On the other end,
there are routine,
monotonous, low-
paying, and
unsatisfying
