Business Studies – 2.2.4 Why reducing the size of the workforce may be necessary | e-Consult

Recommendation: The most justifiable redundancies would be among the 5 supervisors and potentially some of the 15 production workers. The plant manager, quality control inspectors, and maintenance technicians are essential for the smooth operation of the production facility.

Justification:

• Automation Impact: The automation investment has directly led to a reduction in the need for manual production workers. This is a natural consequence of technological advancement.
• Management Roles: The supervisors play a vital role in overseeing production and ensuring efficiency. While some supervision might be absorbed by the plant manager, reducing the number of supervisors could streamline management structures.
• Specialized Skills: Quality control inspectors and maintenance technicians possess specialized skills that are difficult to replace. Their roles are crucial for maintaining product quality and the functionality of the production equipment.
• Skills Assessment: A skills assessment should be conducted to identify which production workers have skills that are less easily automated or that could be redeployed to other areas of the company.
• Redundancy Support: The company has a responsibility to provide redundancy support to affected employees, including severance pay, outplacement services, and career counseling.