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Taylorism And The Degradation Of Work

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This paper will determine to what extent Taylorism has led to the degradation of work, and thus the extent to which the question statement is true. In terms of key phrases, this essay focuses on degradation of work, knowledge workers and Taylorism. When this paper refers to degradation of work it refers to the reduction in technical input by labour through the process of scientific management as defined by Spencer, (2000). Additionally, when this paper mentions knowledge workers it defines them as workers who perform non-routine tasks after training and education (Paton, 2012). Furthermore, when this essay mentions Taylorism it refers to the core characteristics of scientific management: division of labour and reducing the autonomy of workers, as defined in the work of Paton, (2012). …show more content…

This essay will determine the extent to which the statement is true, by analysing the supporting and undermining arguments. The supporting arguments are first analysed, through evaluating the replacement of unskilled labour by capital and the breakdown of complex processes. Then the counter-arguments are considered, by focusing on the development of the knowledge economy and the impact of specialisation on knowledge workers. This essay will conclude that Taylorism hasn't led to the degradation of work to a full extent as most importantly it has the opposite effect on knowledge workers by upskilling their occupations, through improving their depth of knowledge. However, Taylorism still degrades a significant amount of work in the economy, leading to polarisation. Thus, the statement is only true to a partial

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