Evening star., 1941-03-23


cations of these men are frequently
overstatedD
If the non-registered unemployed
have the same skills, the total would be
raised from pit $50 to about 0,000. That
is about 13 per cent of the number Of
skilled men that will be needed. The
percentages in aircraft manufacturing
and shipbuilding we're negligibly small.
Where can the remaining two and half
million skilled and Semi-skilled workers
be found? They may be drawn from
civilian production, or they may be Gre
ated by training the unemployed.
Training Is Under Way.
An enormous program of training is
already under way. Part of the training
is being done within industry: part is
being done by the Government. The
Government schools will have given
training to at least 100000 persons
mostly men-in refresher and element
ary courses. All-around mechanical
training is two-year to four-year job.
The airplane industry, however, has dis
covered that green hands can be trained
to do one simple job in a few weeks.
Such men are not all-around skilled
workers; they are skilled at only one job
in the assembly line.
Correlated with this program Is the
system of "upgrading" under which men
on the job study the job above them or
acquire greater skill, and then move up
to more responsible work.
No one knows how swiftly and effec-
lively these procedures will be able to
supply the necessary skills. Of their
need, however, there is no question.
Nor is skilled labor the only need.
Crucial also are specialized plants and
machinery, raw materials and competent
industrial management. The current
shortage of machinery is we'll known
Shortages of materials are beginning to
be felt-notably in aluminium, magnesium
and zinc. Competent management is
something not susceptible of refined sta
tistical measurement. 1t is nevertheless
quite as important as the Others AL
ready the lights are burning late in plant
offices, as top management wrestles with
production problems.
Program Is Specialized.
All this can be summed up. Getting
the enormous quantity of defense goods
now planned for land the quantity is
being increased) is a big job. 1T can
not be done by merely calling to the
unemployed, "Ho -ye, come to the fac
tories" Few of the unemployed would
know what to do in the armament plants.
tremendous training program is neces-
sary. The armament program is too
specialized to be a good provider of gen.
eral employment.
If the training program moves very
rapidly, We can get the guns without sac
rificing any butter. If it moves slowly,
either there will not be so many guns
as planned, or there will be a lot less
butter. Actually, an intermediate situa-
tion seems likely-there will be some
reduction in the production of those non
defense goods that compete directly with
defense production for labor materials,
plant or management OF these kinds of
butter there will be less. One such is
already marked-aluminum pots and
pans.
At the same time, the people will find
possible outlets for their enlarged in
comes in buying jam-goods that COM
pete little or not at all with defense
production. Foodstuffs probably are
such items.
If the defense program is enlarged, as
it certainly will be, further cuts in butter
and less jam will be in order. A really
all-out war effort by this country might
involve decrease of $20,000,0O00O0 in
civilian consumption, and an increase in
total output by producing some s55,00O,-
100000 of war goods per year.
It's big job. The first necessity in
getting a big job done is to quit kidding
ourselves that it is an easy job and recog-
nize that it is hard job. On that basis
We can get properly set psychologically
to do the job and do it rapidly and we'll.