EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY,  LABOR,  AND  INDUSTRY  379

were  nonexistent.  Therefore,  if  failure  to  comprehend
the  nature  of  workers  has  in  the  past  rebounded  to  their
harm,  anything  which  tends  to  remove  this  ignorance
must  be  to  their  advantage.  When  manufacturers  begin
to  devote  the  same  careful  thought  to  their  human  equipment ­
  that  they  have  hitherto  vouchsafed  their  mechanical ­
  equipment,  it  is  an  unmistakable  sign  that  the  interests
and  welfare  of  the  workers  will  receive  a  more  sympathetic
consideration  than  has  heretofore  been  the  case.  The
fact  that  this  attention  may  take  the  form  of  applying
scientific  methods  to  employment  problems  and  treating
human  beings  as  if  they  were  machines  must  therefore
be  recorded  as  a  tribute  rather  than  as  an  insult.  It  is
the  surest  possible  sign  of  the  increased  value  which  has
been  attributed  to  the  workmen.  Even  if  the  increased
interest  of  the  industrial  leader  in  the  nature  of  his  human
material  is  actuated  by  the  most  selfish  motives,  the  results ­
  can  not  help  being  to  the  advantage  of  the  worker.
In  order  to  understand  correctly  the  place  of  employment ­
  psychology  in  this  program,  and  its  respective  relations ­
  to  industry  and  labor,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the
conditions  to  which  employment  psychology  owes  its  importance. ­
  Employment  psychology  is  obviously  a  response ­
  to  the  all  important  question  of  labor  turnover.
The  amount  of  labor  turnover  in  the  last  few  years  has
been  such  as  to  entail  a  staggering  loss,  a  loss  which  has
affected  every  individual  and  every  enterprise  in  a  measurable ­
  degree.  Labor  and  industry  alike  have  suffered
by  the  excessive  labor  turnover.  This  condition  is  an
unhealthy  one.  In  fact,  the  unemployment  or  the  improper ­
  employment  indicated  by  the  labor  turnover  may
be  considered  as  essentially  a  disease.  Steady  employment ­
  is  or  should  be  the  normal  and  healthy  state  of