Labour

Abstract

All forms of human activity require a supply of labour, but requirements vary considerably between different firms, industries and locations. The requirements of a large firm are different from those of a small firm in the same business, not only in terms of the total number of workers required, but also, in certain circumstances, in terms of their types and skills, largely because the bigger firm is better able than its smaller counterpart to derive scale economies through the introduction of specialisation and the division of labour. The small corner shop, for instance, may be staffed by one or two assistants, of either sex, who are required to perform all the range of operations necessary for the day-to-day running of the business; whereas the larger supermarket may be staffed by several assistants some of who are female supervisors, cashiers or cleaners while others are male shelf fillers, storemen, cleaners or managers. Indeed, as scale increases and the process of the division of labour continues, labour requirements become more precise and more exacting. The same basic principles apply to different industries: some-such as the iron and steel and manufacturing industries-require large numbers of predominantly male workers each with specialist skills in one of a wide range of trades; others-such as the textile or clothing industries-may require an equally large number of specialist females; but many of the industries that employ relatively few workers-such as wholesaling or packaging-may either require a far wider range of skills or aptitudes of each of its employees, or may even require no specialist skills at all.