Major disadvantages of job enlargement are resistance to change, workers incapable of growing with the job, increased training time and union opposition. Resistance to change is perhaps the greatest obstacle to job enlargement. Resistance is encountered since people tend to resist job changes.
Such changes generate fears, especially if the worker is being confronted by a situation over which he has no control or which he does not fully understand.
Fears are generated when people anticipate unknown organisational changes that may adversely affect their jobs. The fears employees experience concern loss of job, diminution of promotional advantages, reduction of wages, lowering of status position and increase in intensity of labour.
However, a general conclusion about the advantages and disadvantages of job enlargement is that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
Lack of preparation
Job enrichment technique does not provide sufficient time to employees to prepare for performing new tasks assigned to them. Because of this might feel anxious to perform newly assigned work to them.
Increased monitoring
When employees are asked to perform the job of their managers, they are bound to work with them or near them, and this results in increased monitoring on the work of employees. Some employees don’t perform well when monitored excessively and this might result in their poor performance
Poor outcomes
When an employee performs a work repetitively, he becomes good at it and knows the small details of that work. But when an inexperienced person is asked to perform the work without proper training and guidance, then he is bound to make mistakes.
Responsibilities do not match the skills of employees
Sometimes, some employees don’t have those skills or knowledge which are required to perform the work of the top management properly. Because there is a reason why these tasks are assigned to upper management and not to their subordinates. Poor skills or unmatched skills results in poorly performed job duties.