The conscientious worker: Changing management conceptions of the ideal worker in warehouse labour regimes

Employer discourse is an under-researched element of scholarship on labour regimes, which has tended to dismiss employer views as self-serving or duplicitous. In response, this article argues that employer discourse should be taken more seriously as a response to real-world transformations in market...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tom Barnes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pluto Journals 2025-05-01
Series:Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation
Online Access:https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/workorgalaboglob.19.2.0002
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Employer discourse is an under-researched element of scholarship on labour regimes, which has tended to dismiss employer views as self-serving or duplicitous. In response, this article argues that employer discourse should be taken more seriously as a response to real-world transformations in markets, supply chains, technologies and labour markets. Evidence is drawn from Australia’s largest cities, where experimentation with automation has led to a combination of different labour processes alongside an emphasis on accuracy, as well as speed, in each. Drawing on interviews with managers, this article documents the emergence of a new image of the ideal worker as one who is more than simply flexible and agile, but also conscientious in observing the accuracy requirements of consumer fulfilment in contemporary warehousing.
ISSN:1745-641X
1745-6428