中小機械工業における労働移動の実態

札幌地区工場の調査事例

抄録

This study was aimed at clarifying characteristics and problems of the structure of the labor force of small and medium sized industries through analytical researches in an effort to obtain basic references for the appropriate orientation of future programs regarding training within industry. Materials mainly used include tables based on questionnaires collected from employees of these industries made under the name of “the Study of the Machine Industry” by the Hokkaido Prefectural Government's Comprehensive Development Planning Department. The author of this report participated in it as a researcher.
Plant T selected as a subject of the study is one of the largest machinery manufacturing companies in Sapporo; if manufactures mining and construction machinery.
The following results were concluded by this study:
1. A remarkable progress was noted as to the modernization of machinery and installations. However working processes are still dependent upon manual skill to a great extent. Moreover, in a portion of the manufacturing processes, conditions for the disintegration of job categories are developing, although not observed in actual cases.
2. As to a family background, those in descent from farming and fishing types of occupation constitute the largest proportion, but its percentage tends to decrease with younger ages ; as to the age bracket under the age of nineteen, the percentage stands only at six percent. The percentage of those descending from manufacturing and mining types of industries tends to increase rapidly.
3. As to the labor force of Plant T, the major strength consists of experienced workers with a background as factory workers at other plants and graduates employed immediately after finishing schools. As to the mobility of those experienced workers, the research indicates that in most cases they remained in the same category of jobs or moved within similar types of jobs, This low labor mobility is helpful in the preservation of shills.
4. On the other hand, most of workers with such vocational backgrounds worked on their farms as family members, moved among jobs of more than two categories. This group represents no more than ten percent of the total workers of Plant T. In such cases mobility does not contribute to the accumlation of skills, but contributes to the loss of skills.
5. The study of labor mobility with reference to the time they were employed reveals that about forty per cent of tho seemployed after 1955 were school graduates, in contrast to the fact that prior to that time the majority of workers employed consisted of those once employed by other plants. Skined workerr heretofore on the job are faced with the difficulties of labor mobility.