Abstract: The study was designed to investigate the use of work study techniques in major manufacturing industries in Nigeria. A stratified random sampling was done using seventy-three quoted companies from the major industrial zones in Nigeria. Questionnaire and interview techniques were used for collecting data for this study. Appropriate statistics were employed in the data analysis. It was found that majority of the manufacturing organizations know about work study techniques in their engineering and production activities as well as productivity improvement programme. The result of the survey revealed that a majority of the companies were not interested in the use of work study techniques due primarily to the lack of expertise knowledge, lack of necessary facilities, many engineering hours and substantial financial resources it requires. Necessary recommendations that must improve the use of the principles and tools of work study and enhance productivity of ventures are suggested.