What is Division of Labour?
Division of labour is the breaking down of a productive process into simpler tasks, so that a person who specialises in one task can perform it better. It is the production process of a final good that is divided, not a worker being divided — for example, in building a house, one person specialises in carrying water, another in moulding blocks, another in supplying bricks to the bricklayer, and a carpenter makes the doors and windows.
Advantages of Division of Labour
To the business: specialist workers become quicker at producing goods, production becomes cheaper, output increases, and each worker can concentrate on and build expertise in what they’re good at. It also means no time is wasted moving between jobs, output quality improves since defects are easily noticed, and it’s easier to find a worker for one specific task than for many.
To the worker: higher pay for specialised work and improved skill at that job.
Disadvantages of Division of Labour
To the business: a greater cost of training workers, and quality may suffer if workers become bored from a lack of variety.
To the worker: boredom from repeating the same task, a loss of craftsmanship and creativity, the risk of unemployment if that particular task is no longer needed, and high interdependency — one worker’s absence can affect the whole chain.
Limitations to Division of Labour
- Market size: when demand is low, mass production isn’t possible.
- Nature of some products: some services, like those of doctors, teachers, and lawyers, can’t be mass-produced.
- Inadequate transportation: production is only complete when goods reach the final consumer, so poor transport limits it.
- Limited labour supply: splitting production into many tasks requires enough available workers.
