Organisational change, technology, employment and skills: an empirical study of French manufacturing

This paper analyses the correlations between technological change, organisational change and skill change using a survey on organisational change in manufacturing firms conducted in 1993. Considerable diversity is allowed for in terms of the measure of technological and organisational change, and the analysis shows a positive correlation between technological change and reorganisations, whatever their types. The paper then analyses the relationships between these changes and the employment behaviour of firms. It shows that changes in the required skills and in the occupational structure of firms are more closely connected to organisational than to technological change. Although organisational change affects the work content and skill requirements of blue collar workers, it is mainly indirect workers that are affected in terms of the number employed. Finally, the analysis shows that technology tends to stabilise the workforce whereas the move towards the model of 'flexible enterprise' favours its renewal. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.