THE MAJOR OBJECTIVE WAS TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF MECHANIZATION AND AUTOMATION GENERALLY REQUIRE LOWER LEVELS OF SKILLS THAN EARLIER PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. A SECONDARY OBJECTIVE WAS TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF GIVING UNBIASED PROJECTIONS OF THE MANPOWER IMPACT OF SPECIFIC ADVANCES IN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY. DEPENDENT VARIABLES WERE MAN-HOUR REQUIREMENTS PER UNIT PRODUCT AND REQUIRED SKILL LEVEL RATED ON A PRIVIOUSLY DEVELOPED SCALE. DATA FROM ACTUAL OBSERVATIONS OF PROCESSES, FROM COMPANY JOB ANALYSIS INSTRUMENTS, AND EMPLOYEE, COST, AND PRODUCTION RECORDS WERE COLLECTED INDEPENDENTLY FROM TWO FIRMS IN EACH INDUSTRY FOR WHICH AN OLD AND A NEW PROCESS WERE COMPARED -- BANKING, STEEL ANNEALING, STEEL GALVANIZING, AND AEROSPACE METAL MACHINING. ALL PAIRS OF PROCESSES SHOWED THE EXPECTED REDUCTION IN MAN-HOUR REQUIREMENT PER UNIT, AND IN ALL CASES INSTALLATION OF THE NEW PROCESS WAS JUSTIFIED IN TERMS OF HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY. MEAN SKILL LEVELS WERE INCREASED TO A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EXTENT IN ALL CASES EXCEPT METAL MACHINING WHERE THEY WERE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY. HOWEVER, THE CHANGES WERE SMALL IN ABSOLUTE TERMS. MANPOWER DEMAND INCREASES RESULTING FROM USING THE NEW PROCESSES WERE NOT BIG ENOUGH TO AFFECT THE LABOR FORCE. THEREFORE, OTHER SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY WILL HAVE TO FURNISH NEEDED EMPLOYMENT. THE APPENDIX, APPROXIMATELY 200 PAGES, CONTAINS PROCEDURES FOR CREATING THE INSTRUMENTS USED IN THE STUDY, RAW DATA, DATA ANALYSIS, AND JOB DESCRIPTIONS WITHIN THE FIVE CASES. (EM)