Perspective. Human labour, a capitalist challenge

Abstract

Human resource departments aim to encourage employees to carry out their work in a way that meets the strict performance and efficiency criteria set by management. This gives rise to strong tensions and contradictions. On the one hand, this involves a systematic individualisation of employee management, which may weaken informal collectivities, as well as an overemphasis on employees’ personal, emotional and narcissistic propensities. Employees may be called upon to ‘find themselves’, to find fulfilment in their work. On the other hand, the organisation of work continues to be inspired largely by Taylorian principles, with imperative prescriptions in the form of procedures, reporting and best practices, all devised somewhat abstractly by consultancies. To palliate any hint of resistance, employees may be disempowered through a policy of perpetual change, which ultimately undermines their professional expertise and sense of legitimacy. This becomes a source of distress and personal insecurity. Employees may attempt to resist individually, and sporadic forms of unexpected collective action may emerge.