Arizona republican., 1918-03-11
The Woman and Her
 Job
1-Wnl she keep it?

WASHINGTON, D. C., March b. That women will stick to their new jobs in the industrial world after the war is over is the conclusion reached by several industrial commissions which have recently investigated the problem.
 For a problem it has become. It is estimated that a million women have entered American industries since the war began, the majority undertaking jobs that were formerly supposed to be only within the masculine capa- bilities. The lady street car con- ductor is no longer an anomaly in our city transportation systems; the woman elevator operator is no longer q curiosity. and we are getting used 10 women bank clerks, just as in the factories they are getting used to women mechanics.
 All this widespread employment of women, however. has been looked upon as merely temporary. It has been taken for granted that during ,he war women would fill the places of men, and that after the war was over they would politely hand them back again. But two things have occurred to upset these optimistic calculations. Women are exhibiting a disappearing satisfaction with their jobs, and their employers discon- certing satisfaction with their work. In Europe, for example, where the substitution of women in the places of men has proceeded ito an even greater extent than in this country. women have developed an unexpected liking for mems work. Women cooks and shipgirls and seamstresses are becoming rapidly scarcer in England, it is reported, for the women all in sist upon either tilling the soil or making munitions. The other day d London tea shop advertised for a waitress but, in the face of a short age of feminine applicants, had to employ a man.
 In this country, too, women are beginning to show a certain prefer ence for masculine jobs, largely no doubt, for the reason that they pay the most money. At a meeting of labor delegates a short time ago, an attempt was made to pass a resolu- tion excluding women from certain occupations that were considered harmful to them, but it failed
 Women may some day be presi- dents of the United States" was the |. and it would be a mistake to ex- clude them from the opportunities that any job offered
 Another popular belief to be shat tered recently is that women look upon their work as a stepping stone from school to marriage. Investiga- tions have shown that the majority or the women workers who marry these days hold onto their jobs, even when it is not absolutely necessary. "The only difference between working in a factory and working in your home, said a married woman in answer to a question as to why she went on working not long ago, is that you get paid for one and don't for the other"
 These are some of the reasons why close observers of the industrial situ- ation predict that women will not cheerfully relinquish their jobs when !he war is over. But, after all this IS a question which must be solved to some extent by employers. From them must come the ultimate de- cision. Hence. it is interesting to see what they already have to say about the replacement of men by women.
 
 where women can do a mans work at all, they can do it better. both as to quality and quantity. but theil range of substitution is limited. More over. the employment of women pre-. sents certain difficulties that ofter require new apparatus and adjust ment. As one manufacturer point. out. "a woman is not as strongly built as a man; she is not so tall her reach is not so great: she can. not stond for so long: she is no physically adapted to lifting and car rying weights, and she requires man, conveniences which men do not re quire.'
 In his shop, this manufacturer says he has instituted carrying tray which are so constructed that n woman can obtain load over fit pounds in weight, unless the sig of the individual piece makes thi limit impossible. Stools and chair are provided wherever there is room and short rest periods-one in tn morning and one in the afternoon have been established.
 The employment of women also ore sents certain psychological difficultie that are not always encountered i the employment of men. In the frs place, one employer asserts that ex perience has taught him to be ex tremely careful about the character of the women he employs, for th important reason that t.ie undesir able woman car completely demoraI ize a whole department. Either he influence is bad. or the other wome will recent her presence and resigna tons without explanation will folio, in rapid order.
 When an inexperienced woman .aken on in most factories she put through a period of training be foro iS narn1itta6 fo ap+ar