Emotional Labour and the Autonomy of Dependent Self-Employed Workers

The Limitations of Digital Managerial Control in the Home Credit Sector

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2374492
AutoresEsme Terry (0000-0002-9941-7046, University of Leeds, UK; Heriot-Watt University, UK, autor correspondente), Abigail Marks (0000-0002-5307-8923, Newcastle University), Arick Dakessian (0000-0001-7792-6862, Queen Margaret University), Arek Dakessian, Dimitris Christopoulos (0000-0001-7367-1129, Heriot-Watt University, UK; Modul University Vienna, Austria)
Ano2022
Volume36
Fascículo4
Páginas665-682
Data de publicação2022-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017020979504
OpenAlexW3123560004
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas11
Referências citadas36

Changes to the labour process in the home credit sector have exposed the industry's agency workforce to increased levels of digital managerial control through the introduction of lending applications and algorithmic decision-making techniques. This article highlights the heterogeneous nature of the impact of digitalisation on the labour process and worker autonomy - specifically, in terms of workers' engagement in unquantified emotional labour. By considering the limitations of digital control in relation to qualitative elements of the labour process, it becomes evident that emotional labour has the scope to be a source of autonomy for dependent self-employed workers when set against a backdrop of heightened digital control. This article therefore contributes to ongoing labour process debates surrounding digitalisation, quantified workers and digital managerial control

Agency (philosophy · Autonomy · Business · Control (management · Economic growth · Economics · Emotional labor · Labour economics · Management · Political science · Process (computing · Scope (computer science · Sociology · Workforce · Computer Science · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Emotional Labor in Professions · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law