Shopfloor Apprentices under a Lean Labour Process: Insights from a British Car Plant

Ron Roberts and Niall Cullinane
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Ron Roberts: Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Niall Cullinane: Queen’s University Belfast, UK

Work, Employment & Society, 2026, vol. 40, issue 1, 135-152

Abstract: This article considers how lean production changes the shopfloor learning experience of apprentices. Insights from labour process and communities of practice literature are used to interrogate the study. Evidence derives from apprentices’ experiences in a British car assembly plant across several decades. The study compares pre-lean apprentices’ experiences with those who learn under lean, considering how lean might reshape apprentices’ shopfloor interactions with the plant community of practice. It finds that lean appears unfavourable to apprentices’ integration into the community of practice by debilitating learning opportunities with mentors. The article concludes by theorising how inefficiency and waste may aid on-the-job learning for workplace apprentices.

Keywords: apprentice; apprenticeship; car industry; communities of practice; labour process; lean production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:40:y:2026:i:1:p:135-152

DOI: 10.1177/09500170251366186

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