Question

Why did Henry Ford establish a department in his plants to educate immigrant workers?

Answer 1

Henry Ford created a department to educate immigrant workers to help them assimilate, maintain the company's standards, and foster worker retention, supporting his mass production model.

Step-by-step explanation:

Henry Ford established a department in his plants to educate immigrant workers to adapt to the demands of the growing auto field, ensure they aligned with the company's standards, and improve worker retention. With Ford's emphasis on cheap mass production, he needed a large labor force for his assembly lines.

Immigrant workers provided a large pool of potential employees but often required assimilation into Ford's work culture and American society. The Social Department investigated employees' lifestyles, instilling values such as sobriety and avoiding what Ford considered vices, while also enforcing a strict anti-union stance. Eventually, this helped reduce the high turnover rate and maintain a disciplined workforce, compliant with Ford's paternalistic work environment.

Answer 2

Ford Motor Company was the leading manufacturer of automobiles in the world thanks to the assembly line system. Ford drew thousands of immigrants to his fabric by offering higher wages and employment opportunity.

The department to educate immigrant workers established a system of rules and codes of behavior for Ford employees that they had to meet, in order to qualify for the $5 day pay rate alike other workers. Also, it was a tool for cultural integration ensuring that there would be no conflict between workers in the factory.

Furthermore, the Ford English School was created to address the problem of communicating with non-English speaking workers who didn’t share a common language, and the potential threats to safety that this posed.

All in all, the education of workers in Ford's plants was a successful strategy to increase productivity.