Aiken W. Fisher (right), chairman of SAMLA's manufacturers program committee, listens to Ceorge W. Taylor, University of Pennsylvania, discuss guaranteed annual wage
Pros end Cons of G A W Demands Labor expert says there can be no " p a t t e r n " type determination of the issue called guaranteed annual wage Personnel recruiters cautioned against overselling. Graduates should be given better information about jobs WHTITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. VA. —Damand for a guaranteed annual wage is a proposed additional program for pMacing greater responsibility upon the employer for minimizing certain kinds of unemployment. This is t h e gist osf a discussion of pros and cons of GAW by George W. Taylor of t h e University of Pennsylvania speaking here before Scientific Apparatus Makers Association's 37th annual meeting. Altihoiigh these are days of expanding activity and booming production, t i e fesar and risk of unemployment continues to be of major concern to workers, especially in the mass production industries, according to Taylor. In pointing out that the area of public tolera_nce of unemployment has narrowecB materially, he recalls that i n 1923 almost 25% of the total civilian work force was unemployed. As late as 19:38, about 19% were without jobs. Nowadays strong demands for emergency governmental action are voiced when- 4 or 5% of the civilian work force is unemployed. It seems significant, says Taylor, that dema_nds for guaranteed wages or work are b-eing pressed most vigorously in a few Enass production industries where seniority has been looked to as a means of providing job security to longerservice employees. One might conjecture that the intensity of the employee's dema=md for guaranteed work or wages in th=ese industries may very well b e related to the quality of the job securVOL UME
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i t y wnich is provided by the seniority system. If ^ û g h seniority" men get laid off because seasonal fluctuations nave not been eliminated, the seniority system may b e appraised as inadequate b y employees. One argument advanced b y supporters of GAW is the need to give management a financial incentive to regularize production and employment. Risk o f Layoff. Also closely allied t o unions* demand for GAW is the risk o f layoff because of so-called automation o r technological change as well as because of plant relocation, according t o Taylor. I t is reasoned that a requirement to pay wages to laid-off employees will induce employers to introduce labor-saving devices when total demand for labor is increasing and to build plants i n established localities. Contrasting companies and industries where consumer demand makes for steady employment with other companies and industries operating in a declining market or where seasonal fluctuations are unavoidable, the labor professor said, "there are, thus, situations i n wbich a guarantee of work or wages i s not necessary and others in which it i s not possible." GAW Programs Not Universal. U n i o n programs to guarantee annual w a g e s certainly cannot be universally applicable. There cannot b e a "pattern" type of determination of the issue whicL· i s called guaranteed annual w a g e , Taylor says. MAY
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It is evident, Taylor notes, that Government, management, and unions are more aware than ever before of t h e need to eliminate avoidable unemployment and to ease the plight of those who lose their jobs. Job Overselling Breeds Discontent. Competition for young technical graduates is still veiy keen. Employers ought to be hiring scientists and engineers more for future than immediate jobs. More time and attention should be given to die selection of the technical employee. These were the principal ideas expressed b y a three-man panel who discussed for SAMA t h e subject, "Attracting and Selecting Young Technical Talent." Speaking a s an engineer, Ernest F . Upton, Jr., of Minneapolis-Honeywell's Brown Instrument Division, states d i a t overselling the job appears to pay off in high turnover and discontent. O n e way, he advocates, to avoid overselling the job is to arrange for pregraduation employment of students o n either a cooperative o r temporary employment basis during summers. One of the most powerful weapons in recruiting is t o give tlie college senior a clear idea of where he will fit with the company once h e starts to work. A well thought out mdoctrination program introducing the young e n gineer to the profession via a variety of work assignments keeps the young e n gineer quite interested. The company doing the best job on this score has t h e best possibility of attracting young e n gineers, Upton concludes. Plaguing the critical luring situation, according to A. R. Cullimore, president emeritus of Newark College of Engineering, is industry's hiring for irnrnediate positions rather than for where the man will be years later as a result of potential growth on the job. Nine Years of Training and Growth· Calling attention to the fact that a technical man's training period extends, at least, five years beyond his graduation from college, Culliniore stresses the point that a nine-year period of training and growth for t h e scientist-engineer must be assumed b e fore any kind of a final result can h o p e .to b e achieved. Looking forward to an entirely n e w trend in engineering education as a result of automation, cybernetics, analog and digital computors, and the like, h e prophesies that t h e technologist, physicist, and engineer are moving into a phase where their work will become even more useful and creative. "It's going to leave u s professionally on a much higher plane doing a type of intellectual work which has not y e t been appreciated in educational and industrial circles," h e says. 1947
