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Show MH t - .rggtefln I Rationing Manpower By PAUL V. McNUTT Chtitmtu Wsr Mtnptwn Commission. The new frontier In manpower Is effective use of manpower. Management, Man-agement, labor, and the public must see to it that no workers and no hour of any worker's time is wasted. During the past two years manpower man-power problems have changed from time to time. At first it was largely a matter of "getting the right workers work-ers in the right Jobs in the right numbers at the right time." Workers Work-ers to be put into right Jobs wer drawn largely from the unemployed. At the same time there was the Job of training workers to take their - part in the production of goods needed need-ed in our war effort. Many workers had lost their skills through years of unemployment and needed retrain- lng. Many others took Jobs for the first time and needed training to give them skills which they did not have. In meeting these manpower needs United States Employment service offices of the War Manpower commission com-mission placed more than 11,000.000 workers from May, 1942, to May, 1943, of whom 7,921.000 were In war Industries and 3,727,000 In agriculture. agricul-ture. During this war training facilities facil-ities gave training to mora than 10,000,000 enrollees. We now have fewer than 1,000,000 persons unemployed in the country, and this is thought to be an irreducible irreduci-ble minimum. As we get nearer the bottom of the manpower barrel the manpower problems to be met change in character. More Workers Needed Than Are Available Even though several million more women Join their sisters In overalls by July of next year and other millions mil-lions of youth, handicapped persons, older workers, etc., take Jobs by July of next year, the demand for workers is so great that there still will be many more persons needed than are available. Consequently, we will have to be very careful in sending new workers into places where they are needed most and in using them, and other employed workers so that their work time is not wasted. It used to be that when a war plant, let us say, wanted 10,000 work-erg, work-erg, the employment service could go out and find the needed people. Now the War Manpower commis-ion commis-ion officials have to find out whether or not these workers are really needed. Using the experience of ether war plants they may find that the plant has a very high percentage of highly high-ly skilled workers whose skills are not being fully used and that some of those could be shifted into other Jobs. Then less skilled persons or persons with physical disabilities could be put in their place. In other words, with as few workers work-ers available as we have today, the shipyard should Justify its request for more workers by showing that it is making the best possible use of all the workers it already has. That is Just common sense. It represents a kind of rationing of manpower to those who can use the manpower best. Job of Burean of Manpower Utilisation The Bureau of Manpower Utilization, Utiliza-tion, that has the job of ensuring effective use of workers, is the newest new-est of the War Manpower commission's commis-sion's bureaus. The work is done largely in the field by a small staff. They are skilled management engineers engi-neers and practical business men. This staff is at the service of American industry on the call of Industries In-dustries and area manpower officials. offi-cials. It is their job to consult with and assist management to make the best possible use of workers. The field force will be supplemented supplement-ed by a volunteer group of skilled engineers and managers. The manpower officials in the various va-rious regions feel free to call upon these individuals when it is felt that they can be of special service in solving problems of the best use of workers. However, the great bulk of the commission's work will be done by the staff of about 175 Manpower Utilization consulants. There is another side to effective Use of workers that many persons don't recognize. Workers frequent- ly have to stay away from their Jobs to visit ration boards, selective service boards, do shopping, do the laundry, or to take care of children. Women, particularly, often quit because they find it impossible to carry on a full-time job and manage their household with the shortage of community services. All such absenteeism and turnover holds down production. Therefore, effective use of local labor supply depends in good part on adjustments within the community. The program of an eastern city shows the extent to which a community commu-nity can adjust Itself to the needs of war workers. In this city great emphasis has been put on the provision provi-sion of wide recreational facilities hours of employees in the war plants. In addition, child care centers cen-ters have been established to take care of the children of working parents. J |