THE
VOL. LXXVD. No.7. PaMished Every Sahlrday: Edward Lyman Bin. Inc.• at 383 Madison Ave.• New York. N. Y. Aug. 18. 1923
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Guaranteed Employment and Steady Production
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ANUFACTURERS generally will be, or should be~ greatly interested in the proposition made re
cently by the Procter & Gamble Co., prominent soap manufacturer, to its employes guaranteeing
forty-eight weeks' employment each year. The move is mack with a view to eliminating the ex
pense and trouble incident to heavy labor turnnver due to shutting down the -factory at intervals and
the tendency of the workers to seek employment of a 111 ore permanent character in other fields. It is also be
lieved that, with minds free from worry regarding the question of steady income, the workers will be in a
position to devote their full thought and effort to the business, with a consequent increase in efficiency.
The experiment is believed to be the first of its kind ever made in American industry and will be \\'atched
closely to determine the actual results. It is generally .realized that the difficulties incident to building up and
maintaining efficient factory organizations and many of the troubles incident to labor shortages are most'
prevalent in those fields where the plants are operated on a seasonal basi s, subject to shut-downs of several
weeks' duration at various times during the year.
The piano trade has been an example of this, fo r the shortage of skillec1labor in this particular industry
is directly traceable, in most cases, to the fact that wor kers undergo periods of idleness each year and conse
quently seek positions in other lines where employment would be more regular and closer to the 100 per cent
basis. It has been noticeable, too, that those piano fac tories that for one reason or another have been able to
keep in practically full operation for a number of years have had little trouble with labor turnover, even though
they may find difficulty in getting extra help at peak periods.
At first glance it seems as though the manufacturer were doing a rather risky thing in obligating him
self to keep his workers employed for forty-eight weeks each year, but with such an operating basis before him
he is, in many cases, in a position to divide his production schedule over the several months of the year so as to
avoid as much as possible the peaks and depressions and thus strike an average and profitable volume of output.
Making soaps and pianos are tvvo entirely different things, but it might be well for the manufacturers
in our own trade to consider the Procter & Gamble move fro111 the angle of steady production throughout the
year, instead of the rushes and lulls that mark the progress of too ma ny factories at the present time.
To make the consideration of any value, however, the manufacturers must be able to depend ujJon the
co-operation of the dealers, not particularly in the matt er of increasing their orders, which of course rests with
the dealer himself and the conditions in his territory, but in so averaging their orders, or rather deli ve ries , that
the burden of production will not be centered on three or four mon ths of the year.
The Review, some time ago, pointed out conditions that existed at present in the matter of deliveries
made to various dealers, showing that the bulk of the demand on the factories was confined to three or four
months at most in the case of most retailers, though in vestigati on showed that , were the retailer to average
his orders more or less evenly over the twelve months of the year, he would not in any case be called U])0 11 to
carry an instrument more than a month or so over the period for which he must keep it in stock at the present
time. At the same time the manufacturer would be enabled to place his production on a sound, steady basi s.
Guaranteeing steady employment for practical! y the entire year may not prove a panacea for all the
troubles incident to labor shortage, but it 'will have a powerful effect in keeping the average employe contented,
satisfied and a permanent member of the organization . It Inig-ht be well for the executive at times to consider
his own situation were he compelled to worry about his employment and his income from week to week and
from month to month, instead of resting securely under the protection of an annual contract. Certainly his
efficiency wouldn't be increased under that plan.
Bearing this in mind, the question of skilled piano labor may finel a solution eventually along: these
lines.
M