In manufacturing, employment of supervisors is expected to show little to no change despite an increase in manufacturing jobs as each supervisor is expected to oversee more workers. This trend reflects the increasing use of computers to meet supervisory responsibilities, such as production analysis and scheduling, greater involvement of production workers in decisionmaking, and the formation of self-directed work teams. These developments are not as prevalent in construction and most other nonmanufacturing industries, where the employment of blue-collar worker supervisors is expected to rise along with employment of the workers they supervise. Because of their skill and seniority, blue-collar worker supervisors often are protected from layoffs during a recession. However, some supervisors in the highly cyclical construction industry may be laid off when construction activity declines.
Most supervisors earn significantly more than the workers they supervise.
Although most blue-collar workers are paid by the hour, the majority of supervisors receive an annual salary. Some supervisors receive extra pay when they work overtime. Top Other workers with supervisory duties include those who supervise professional, technical, sales, clerical, and service workers. Some of these are retail store or department managers , sales managers , clerical supervisors , bank officers , head tellers, hotel managers , postmasters, head cooks , head nurses, and surveyors . Links to non-BLS Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.