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Chapter 74
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-3886-0.ch074
INTRODUCTION
New technologies are causing critical changes
in established institutional arrangements within
companies, including changes in the division of
labor, organizational structures, and skill require-
ments at all levels of the occupational hierarchy.
Through their impact on markets and production
processes, new technologies are changing the roles
of companies, industries, and regions from a socio-
economic point of view, and also the interactions
and social relations between them. Although they
are leading to new and more flexible institutional
arrangements that meet the demands of the new
era of flexible production and consumption, they
totally alter current labor relations.
The aim of this chapter is to investigate how
technological developments occurring in the pro-
duction processes and organizational structures
of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
Emek Barış Kepenek
Science and Technology Policies Research Center (TEKPOL), Turkey
Socio-Technical Issues in
Youth Employment in SMEs:
The Case of the Furniture Sector in Turkey
ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how technological developments implemented in the production processes
and organizational structures of small and medium sized enterprises afect the skills and therefore the
employment of young workers in these businesses. The furniture sector in the greater region of Ankara
in Turkey is explored in this chapter because it is one of the fastest growing sectors in the new millen-
nium, and the rate of youth employment is very high. Young workers face severe problems due to the
technological developments and organizational changes occurring in these enterprises. Many of them
are either removed from production processes or dismissed from the company. To have a decent job,
the young generation working in this sector should not be alienated from the production process. It is
claimed that this major problem of bias towards young workers can be solved by a proper education,
which will greatly increase their technical skills.