An uncertain elite
Professional differences and similarities between engineers and tech workers in times of digital transformation
Bibliographic Data
The digital transformation of industries has given rise to new categories of tech workers, such as software engineers and UX/UI designers, who now work alongside traditional engineers. This study explores the evolving relationship between these groups, focusing on work processes, status perceptions and professional interactions. The research questions addressed include: how has digitalisation affected these two groups’ work processes? what strategies do they use to maintain or improve their career paths? and how do their roles converge or diverge? Using qualitative data from interviews and workshops in a German automotive company undergoing a digital and electric mobility transformation, the study finds both competition and cooperation between engineers and IT professionals, with the former adopting some IT work methods and the latter adjusting to the highly structured processes of the industrial sector. Despite growing overlaps, distinct professional identities nevertheless remain
Elite · Political science · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Engineering-Dienstleistungen und Mitbestimmung
The System of Professions
Venture Labor
Revisiting technical workers
Engineering Labour
Surviving is Succeeding
Emerging positions of German firms in the industrial internet of things
Technical Workers in an Advanced Society
A new middle-class fraction with a distinct subjectivity
Unionizing High Tech
Interprofessional Relations and The Emergence of A New Profession
Working-Class Power, Capitalist-Class Interests, and Class Compromise
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |