SPECIALISATION AND DIVISION OF LABOUR
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Specialisation: the concentration on particular products or tasks. Eg: Neurosurgeons.
Division of labour: workers specialising in particular tasks in the production of goods/services.
Eg: cutting department, sewing department etc. in a garment factory.
Advantages of specialisation:
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Practice makes perfect: as a worker repeatedly performs a task, they become good at it and the
output per worker increases.
Decrease in costs of production: practice leads to higher output per worker and therefore, lower
unit costs.
Easy to train: when a worker has to be trained only to do a specific job, it requires less effort and
time to train them.
Time saved: workers will not have to move from one place to another to complete their task and
this will save time.
Easier to design machinery: machinery will be needed only to help a worker complete a certain
task. Eg: an iron instead of a machine that cuts, prints, sews, irons, packs etc.
Very skilled workers who earn high wages: specialisation results in the worker being more skilled
in their job which will give them the experience and ability to earn higher wages.
Less stress: specialising in less demanding jobs can reduce the pressure on workers.
Disadvantages of specialisation:
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Boredom: employees may easily get bored as they repeat the same task again and again. This
may result in more sick days taken off.
Increase in costs of production: boredom and increased time off work due to this will result in
increased costs of production.
Inability to find other jobs: if workers specialise only on one job, they will be unable to get
another job if the demand for their task falls or gets replaced by machinery.