Abstract
Changes in the modern workplace brought about by technology, management innovations, and increased competition in the global marketplace, have led to many concerns about the adequacy of workforce skills. Work organisation, for example, is increasingly characterised by the integration of traditionally separate functional roles (e.g. design, engineering, manufacturing); flatter organisational hierarchies with decentralisation of responsibility, and greater employee involvement. Innovation and speed are accomplished through teams of workers who monitor quality and take charge of reconfiguring the production process, thereby performing some of the supervisory, planning, repair, maintenance, and support functions previously done by managers or specialists. Compared to the traditional model of work, based largely on mass production, this new ‘flexible’ model is thought to require less supervision, but workers with higher and more varied skills (Berryman & Bailey, 1992).
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Stasz, C. (1998). Generic skills at work: implications for occupationally-oriented education. In: Nijhof, W.J., Streumer, J.N. (eds) Key Qualifications in Work and Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5204-4_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5204-4_12
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