Detailed Category Descriptions and Operational Issues6

Class 6: Lower supervisory and lower technician occupations: ‘higher grade blue collar workers’

This class, like Class 3, has a mixed form of employment regulation, but in distinction from Class 3, Class 6 has mixed regulation because of problems employers have with asset specificity – that is, employees in Class 6 possess an important element of organization specific skills, that is knowledge of organizational needs. For this reason, some element of an internal firm labour market operates for these occupations.

Lower supervisors are found in occupations which, for employees, would place them in Classes 7, 8 or 9. Again they have a certain degree of asset specificity.

Lower technicians have greater organization specific skills than other ‘blue collar’ employers. Typical occupations are 3118 draughtspersons, 7244 telegraph and telephone line installers, 7311 precision instrument makers and 7242 electronics fitters.