Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Interrogating new skill concepts in service work — the view from two UK call centres

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2373349
AutoresCaroline Lloyd (0000-0003-2624-8031, SKOPE, Cardiff University), Jonathan Payne (0000-0003-0384-4930, SKOPE, Cardiff University)
Ano2009
Volume23
Fascículo4
Páginas617-634
Data de publicação2009-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017009344863
OpenAlexW2007809111
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas34
Referências citadas36

A current theme within debates over interactive service work is that many routine service jobs are 'skilled' because they require workers to perform 'emotion work' and 'articulation work'. Drawing upon workers' views of their skills in two mass market call centres in the UK, the article questions the use and validity of these new skill concepts. It is argued that these concepts overplay the amount of task variation, discretion and control available to workers. Even more problematic is the tendency to equate skill with the ability to cope with badly designed jobs and stressful working conditions.The findings suggest that there is a need for a thorough debate about what is meant by a 'skilled job' in an expanding service-based economy

Articulation (sociology · Business · Control (management · Discretion · Economics · Epistemology · Labour economics · Management · Nothing · Political science · Public relations · Service (business · Sociology · Task (project management · Theme (computing · Work (physics · Applied Psychology · Computer Science · Emotional Labor in Professions · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing