Over a period of time, the profile of employees, industrial workers in particular, has been changing. Labor is not restricted to certain castes and communities. Social mobility accounts for the emergence of a mixed industrial workforce. While in traditional industries this change is slow, one can notice it in relatively sophisticated industries such as engineering, oil refining and distribution, chemicals and petro-chemicals, machine-tools, etc. The background of the intermediate and lower cadres in the latter industries is overwhelmingly urban; their level of education is higher; they come from middle or lower middle classes. Moreover the old social barriers are breaking down. The old distaste among certain groups for manual work is gradually wearing off because the groups themselves have not retained their separate identity as of old and also because jobs are not wholly manual.
Higher skills and educational requirements expected of workers in modern factories and better wage levels have tended to blur further the traditional distinction between manual and non-manual workers. Employees are seeking and demanding parity in employee benefits among different categories and levels. The evolving social and political climate in the country also has its impact in shaping and expending these changes in the composition of workforce and their disposition towards work place.
