Women Employees

Women Employees. Auburn Automobile Company Workers. , The story of women workers at the Auburn Automobile Company is a narrative of social change in Auburn and DeKalb County. Employment at the auto company permitted women to become co-breadwinners in their families during lean times. Although money was tight, the new role afforded them freedom to participate in recreational activities and gave them power as consumers. Despite the increase in social freedom. women continued to adhere to the community's agrarian values of hard work. family and religion. During times of peak production, it was not uncommon for women employees to work more than 10 hours a day, six days a week. , The women employed by the Auburn Automobile Company labored in many occupations and were from various economic and social backgrounds. These women often worked as secretaries, stenographers, telephone operators, trim shop workers and upholsterers. They were employed in these roles because many women possessed the necessary skills for these jobs that most men lacked. The poor economy of the Great Depression caused many young women to live at the family home longer, marry later and maintain extended employment in the workforce. From 1925 to 1935, 27 percent of the employees were women. In the social setting of the time, it was a giant stride for an automobile company.