ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to indicate the labour-force effects of technological change in the chemical industry, and it must therefore begin with an explanation of the method adopted and some of the problems involved. It illustrates the common threads of labour-force adjustment to technical change in the chemical industry. The effect of changes in policy on manning and the labour force is of interest in itself, but it may make difficult the identification of distributional changes resulting from technological change. The most common method used was the simple transfer of employees to other plants on the same site or in the same local labour market area. Where there are insufficient vacancies on the site of the old plant or where an isolated old plant is closing down, a policy of resettlement may be adopted. Some employees faced with a resettlement offer considered redundancy, with a high level of compensation, to be a more satisfactory alternative.
