(Dis)embodied Job Search Communication Training: Comparative critical ethnographic analysis of materiality and discourse during the unequal search for work

Abstract

Unemployment can be extremely challenging to manage. Depending on an individual’s social status, unemployment experiences can differ greatly. The longer people grapple with unemployment the more likely they are to seek help from unemployment support organizations. This study takes a comparative, critical ethnographic approach to the study of job search communication training at two separate unemployment support organizations considering intersections of social class and race. The analysis uses a communication lens in order to unpack communication expectations and assumptions embedded into the culture of unemployment support organizations that are tailored to different social class and racial groups. The findings reveal that the job search communication trainings are communicatively biased and divergent. Inequality molds and shapes the process of job search communication training and the progress of job searches. Working-class job seekers are required to communicatively assimilate during training while they manage material reality to survive. Upper-middle-class job seekers refine existing communication skill sets in order to search for work and rarely struggle to manage material needs. The findings point to important implications and areas for future research in workforce studies.