Working in a factory is often a tedious, boring, and relentless job. Because of these job characteristics, highly educated workers have not been considered appropriate candidates for such work. Placing educated people in a monotonous job without any possibility for advancement was thought to be a good recipe for turnover. However, this theory is being reconsidered. Both Ford and Chrysler are looking for better-educated employees to staff their automobile lines. The reason? Things are changing.
First, old plants where cars were made by hand by skilled craftsmen are virtually nonexistent. In their place stand high-tech factories. Training the workers who staffed the old plants to run the new ones has been a nightmare. In one specific example, training hours reached one million because of the poor skills of the workers, the vast majority of whom had not even finished high school. By selecting educated employees, a firm's training costs should decline.
Second, team-based management is becoming a necessity. Prior to 1995, Chrysler(www.chrysler.com) had 1 salaried worker for every 25 hourly workers. That figure as now dropped to 1 to 48. Because there are not enough supervisors, workers will have to supervise themselves. Educated workers have more potential to do this than workers who have not finished high school.
Third, the nature of the work is changing. When a line worker notices a problem production, he or she can stop the line, inform the authorities, and help to find a way to fix it. Performing these tasks will require better-educated workers.
Fourth, competition is changing. All of the auto manufacturers have entered the global market, and they need qualified workers to help them succeed. To compete, Ford and Chrysler have begun to use the manufacturing techniques developed by their foreign competitors. However, these competitors select from among the best and brightest graduates from technical schools to employ in their plants: To compete, Ford and Chrysler will have to recruit better-educated employees too.