Literacy in the labor class: A Capitalist’s Analysis

The role of the labor class and menial workers is much pronounced in the work sphere of Civil Engineering, perhaps more than in any other discipline of technology. Although scientific awareness and the Silicon Revolution have mechanized most of the practices, it’s still the human hand which executes the most fundamental chores on the worksite, nevertheless. As a matter of fact, the largest chunk of unskilled human resources working in the industry come from the construction and fabrication, erection and mining related jobs. So the efficiency of job execution and processes on the worksite is largely determined by the constitution of the workforce involved.

Let us consider a simple job at a construction site, like the laying of bricks for a wall. Now it would be impractical to assume that an illiterate labor is aware of terms like Queen Closer, Quoin Header, Bed Stretcher, etc. He is just used to the idea of mechanically placing the bricks at their ‘designated’ places, designated in the sense, the idea which he has seen being followed traditionally. At small scale construction sites, these types of masons, welders, stone workers can be found most easily as they are easily available and at lost wage rates: any illiterate, unemployed village lad would be more than willing. However, at sites involving large scale construction, such an approach towards work leads to erroneous finish and at times, serious monetary deficits. On the other hand, employing a labor that is literate enough to understand the nature of job and its superficial technicalities might cost more, but a capital used for quality human resources is always an investment.

An educated and literate labor is also the man for the supervisor. Not only he saves the overseer precious time which was hitherto spent in primary instructions, he also finds himself in a position to drop in suggestions wherever he feels necessary. Also, he can adapt to new skills and work more easily, given his better level of awareness and education. Literate, educated workers contribute more towards a progressive industrial environment. To the hands that work and toil, the boon of literacy adds a contributing mind that guides and learns.

As Neo-Capitalism pervades the world, the industries have come to prefer human resources which may be tapped in different ways, as and when required by the market demands. The nature of job has ceased to be perennial for a person employed in a large scale industry. Thus, versatility is the most important aspect that the modern industries desire in their workforce. If the percentage of unskilled human resources in a particular firm were large, evidently, it would be on the cost of their versatility. A large number of the workers would be suited only for one kind of job, thus drastically affecting the efficiency of production or output. Literate, educated workers are more versatile and with little training, can be employed for different kinds of jobs; adding efficiency to the system; while the illiterate workforce is rendered only untenable.

A literate labor can be expected more to be aware of the economic and fiscal aspect of his employment. Illiterate masons and uneducated plumbers wouldn’t know how and when and what determines wage rates, so they are often exploited. To put it in a nutshell, literacy among the working class isn’t only instrumental towards the efficiency of the industry where they are employed; it is also an indispensible asset for their own social, industrial and economic well-being.

Anurag Anand

Class of 2015