Job enlargement (sometimes also referred to as “horizontal loading”) involves the addition of extra, similar, tasks to a job.

In job enlargement, the job itself remains essentially unchanged. However, by widening the range of tasks that need to be performed, hopefully the employee will experience less repetition and monotony that are common on production lines which rely upon the division of labour.

With job enlargement, the employee rarely needs to acquire new skills to carry out the additional task, and the motivational benefits of job enrichment are not usually experienced.

One important negative aspect is that job enlargement is sometimes viewed by employees as a requirement to carry out more work for the same amount of pay.