Job Classifications and Plant Performance in the Auto Industry

Abstract

This study assess the relationship between plant economic performance and job classifications, using data from a large, unionized, automobile manufacturer. Combining skilled and semi‐skilled job classifications leads to small improvements in economic performance, while reductions in the member of assembly job classifications affect neither plant productivity nor plant quality. The data also reveal that classification reductions predict plant modernization, although the magnitude of this effect varies with the occupational group.