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Computer Manufacturing: Effects on White Women and Women of Color University of Washington This article is based on a study of the work experience of production workers at MaikroTek's (a pseudonym) computer manufacturing division in California's Silicon Valley. The majority of the labor force was composed of men and women of color and white women, groups that presently are the fastest growing (Johnston and Packer 1987) populations in the workforce. At the time of this study, participatory management policies were being implemented in major corporations throughout the country; MaikroTek was at the forefront of companies with such policies. This study will show that men and women of color and white
men and women hold different places in the firm's internal labor
market, and that participatory management policies pose new problems
for these workers. On the surface, such policies appear to provide
more participation for all employees. However, this study reveals
a differential effect on workers depending on structural and
socio-demographic factors. Second, different groups of women
workers responded differently to participatory management policies
and to management's actions during the economy-wide recession
of 1982-1983. Third, the present study confirms that working
conditions in the primary sector of the industry are much better
than secondary sector jobs. At MaikroTek workers have stable
employment, relatively high wages, and fringe benefits on the
job. At MaikroTek however, the heterogeneity within and among
women and workers of color is such that workers' responses to
management policies vary. Hardcopy Price: $3.00
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