‘Automation and Industrial Workers’ ‐An International Study

‘Automation’ is a familiar yet ambiguously defined aspect of modern industrial life. It is indeed the advanced state of technological achievement in certain branches of highly mechanized manufacture and fabrication. It is also an absolute in the production process — the final phase of industrial development at current levels of scientific and technical knowledge. Human labour is largely eliminated from production except for the ultimate control of the overall process. ‘Automation’ tends to be viewed both as the process of technical changes as well as the technological terminal point. It will always be viewed from a contemporary standpoint. There will always be relative stages of automation. As such automation is best seen as a continuum of technological change.