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Workers, Wages and the Labour Market: Question 5

Syllabus 3.3

Multiple choice 1 mark

A small chocolate workshop reorganises its production process. Previously, each worker made a whole box of chocolates from start to finish, single-handedly tempering the chocolate, filling the moulds, adding the fillings and wrapping the finished chocolates. Under the new system, one worker only tempers the chocolate, another only fills the moulds, another only adds the fillings, and another only wraps the finished chocolates, an example of division of labour.

Which of the following is most likely to be a disadvantage for the workers themselves as a result of this change?

Choose an answer to check it, then compare with the worked solution below.
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Worked solution

Step 1: Recall the definition of division of labour

Division of labour (worker specialisation) means splitting a production process into separate, repetitive tasks, with each worker performing only one task rather than the whole job. This is exactly what has happened at the chocolate workshop: tempering, moulding, filling and wrapping are now done by four different workers instead of one.

Step 2: Classify each option as an advantage or a disadvantage for the worker

  • A. Becoming highly skilled and productive at one task: this is generally an advantage, since higher productivity can support higher wages for that worker.
  • B. Less time needed to learn the job: this is an advantage, since a single narrow task is quicker to learn than the whole production process.
  • C. The task becoming monotonous: performing exactly the same small task, hour after hour, can easily become boring and demotivating. This is a genuine disadvantage for the worker’s day-to-day experience of the job, even though it does not affect the firm’s output figures.
  • D. Greater total output: this is a benefit to the firm (and to the economy, through lower average costs), not a direct benefit or drawback for the individual worker’s wellbeing.

Step 3: Identify the disadvantage for workers specifically

The question asks specifically about a disadvantage for the workers themselves, not for the firm. Options A, B and D all describe outcomes that benefit the firm (higher productivity, lower training costs, higher output) and can even indirectly benefit workers through job security or wages. Only option C describes something that directly harms the worker’s own experience of doing the job: performing one narrow, repetitive task can become monotonous, reducing job satisfaction. (A further disadvantage, beyond this option, is that workers may also become “deskilled” in only one narrow task, which can make it harder for them to move into other kinds of work later on.)

Final answer

Repeating the same single task all day may become monotonous and reduce job satisfaction, option C.