We have come a long way from Claude Chappe’s invention of the telegraph in 1974. Media has evolved and the Internet has revolutionized the once un-networked globe. This cyber-infected existence has saturated everyday life and impacted the working world in inconceivable ways. There are many additional demands, fresh production forms and altered labor requirements which have evolved in order to support the growth of the information economy. The shift from manufacturing to knowledge demands has had a dramatic implication on the sphere of industry, “these changes are part of a fiercely competitive international environment, marked by an internationalized division of labor” (Bradwell & Reeves 2008:26).
As Zygmunt Bauman attests, we are all living a “liquid life,” which is “a precarious life, lived under conditions of constant uncertainty” (2002). This uncertainty is created because of the consistent technological developments, bringing the need for continual re-schooling of skills, allowing one to navigate through a series of temporary working arrangements. The idea of settling down into a comfortable role, with a mundane, repetitive task is not as common as it once was. The world is transforming and as an employee, one needs to transform with it, or risk redundancy.
“Our only shared condition increasingly seems to be the lived experience of being “permanently impermanent” in the context of consistent change” (M. Deuze).
So I ask the question, should this be negatively looked upon as the end of comfort and stability? Or should this be perceived as an opportunity for individuals to extend knowledge, obtain new skills and transform with the course of their working lifetime. Gone are the days of tedious, repetitive labor, lets welcome this novel form of vocation and celebrate the opportunities that it brings.
Deuze describes “liquid life” as the convergence of the modern categories of production (work) and consumption (life) and the trends this has created which have been a result of the mass populations continuous and concomitant engagement with media. Also termed “presence bleed” by Gregg, “where the location and time of one’s labor becomes a secondary consideration to the task of managing the expectation and/or possibility that one is available and willing to work.” The development of equipment that permit citizens access to work outside the workplace produces an omnipresent possibility to carry out work based activities in unpaid locations. Does this arise from the desire to express a greater level of commitment to ones work because of the not long competitive workplace? Or have these actions and values been instilled within the technological savvy generation?
Younger people, like myself, have grown up with the idea of multi-tasking as a norm. People used to engage in a face-to-face conversation with complete attention being driven into that one singular experience. Today, one can engage in social-networking, watch TV, managing online bank accounts, complete uni work, send and reply e-mails and respond to questions from nearby friends and family– all simultaneously. These skills will undoubtedly be carried through to our working habits. That’s not to say that the increased workloads employees are now expected to undertake should go unrecognized.
“…exploitation becomes less material and more psychological” (Mills, 1973:110)
Bradwell, P., and Reeves, R. (2008) Economies. In Networked Citizens (pp. 25-31). London: Demos.
[URL: http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Network%20citizens%20-%20web.pdf]
Gregg, M. 'Function Creep: Communication technologies and anticipatory labour in the information workplace'.
Deuze, M. 'Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work'. [URL: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/3343/Liquid%20Life%20Deuze%202006.
Mills, C.W. (1973 [1951]) White Collar: The American Middle Classes, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zygmunt Bauman (2002), The 20th century: the end or a new beginning? Thesis Eleven 70, pp.15-25.
I really liked this post. I have found from reading some other posts that everyone agrees in the notion of work been taken home with us. It is a pest. I thought when I finished school the notion of 'homework' would cease...but here it is, assignments at uni and then when fully employed, work won't stop at 5 pm...its coming home in my back pocket. Although the economy could never manage this, would it not be wonderful if people were paid overtime when they worked from home?? It would a tall order but gosh darn it, I do more work at home than I do at University anyday and will probably (sadly) will continue to do in the future (need to break that habit).
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Fergus said, and I can safely say that most of us do alot more work at home than university, and that is the beauty of modern technology- it's completely acceptable for this to happen. However, is it completely acceptable for us to bring our work home with us every single night when we are already working in an office 9-5, 5 days a week?
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