Work life

Over the weekend I met someone, after many years, who told me that he works in a small/mid-sized firm. He spoke about work problems. He referred to the fact that he was taken on as a health and safety expert, but was doing work well out of his remit and job description. Because of the size of the firm, everyone was expected to ‘help out’, no matter what the task. He also spoke about a culture of suspicion, caused in part by the fact that all contracts of employment were individually negotiated, so that people did not have a clue about how much others were earning.

What I found very interesting is the therapeutic terms, characteristic of our times, in which the conversation was framed. He felt ‘depressed’ that he was doing routine work that he was not taken on to do. He was ‘worried’ about what others, earning less than him, might think. He was not sure how long he could ‘hack’ it. He felt ‘deskilled’ and ‘de-motivated’.

This, I thought, is the flexible labour market, so praised by politicians, in action. In the not too distant past, all the problems he referred to could have been dealt with through a trade union and collective endeavour. Working conditions, pay, contracts of employment- these would all fall under the role of trade unions. Now, the trade unions are much weakened and individuals are expected to deal with problems themselves. It is not surprising that the problems are framed in therapeutic terms.