ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews how technology shapes the demand for labour. It examines how the subject has been treated in the history of economic thought and then assesses the views which have been expressed specifically in relation to developing countries. For developing countries, segmentation to be more pronounced since most modern technology is imported from countries which have different labour supply conditions. The labour process as the combination of the material instruments of production and the social organisation of labour is a classical theme for economists. Modern Times shows how the labour process is designed around the performance of the machine and how the worker has to perform in accordance with its needs rather than vice versa. The introduction of more advanced forms of machinery brought about by harnessing science to the labour process both compounds and complements scientific management in separating conception from execution.
