The Precariousness of the Employable. Highly Skilled Professionals in Contemporary RomaniaSimionca

2013–2014

ERSTE Foundation Fellowship for Social Research Labour Market and Employment in Central and Eastern Europe

The Precariousness of the Employable. Highly Skilled Professionals in Contemporary Romania Anca Simionca

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THE$PRECARIOUSNESS$OF$THE$EMPLOYABLE.$HIGHLY$SKILLED$PROFESSIONALS$IN$CONTEMPORARY$ ROMANIA$ Anca$Simionca$ BabeČ™(Bolyai!University,!Cluj(Napoca,!Romania! ancasimionca@gmail.com!

Paper!resulted!from!research!supported!by!the!ERSTE!Fellowship!for!Social!Research$

Introduction$ The!workforce!around!the!world!has!been!subjected!to!undeniable!crises!in!the!last!years,!visible!in!the! high! levels! of! unemployment! and! in! the! protests! that! have! been! mushrooming! globally.! It! is! little! wonder!in!this!context!that!the!concept!of!employability!has!received!increasing!attention!not!only!from! its! promoters! that! are! ubiquitous! among! policy! makers! and! governors,! but! also! from! critical! scholars! trying! to! pin! down! the! tensions! and! dangers! of! current! employment! (for! example! Berglund,! 2013,!

Chertkovskaya!,!2013,!Vesterberg,!2013,!de!SĂĄ!Mello!da!Costa!and!Saraiva,!2012,!Cremin,!2010).!Several! recent! articles! such! as! those! in! the! special! issue! of! Ephemera! have! examined! both! theoretically! and! empirically! important! aspects! of! this! consequential! reality! (see! for! example! Berglund,! 2013,!

Chertkovskaya!,!2013,!Vesterberg,!2013,).!Best!understood!as!a!technology!for!disciplining!the!workers! through!shifting!the!responsibility!of!the!outcome!and!conditions!of!employment!from!the!state!and!the! employer!to!the!worker!herself!(Chertkovskaya!et!al,!2013),!employability!promises!to!be!a!fruitful!entry! point!in!any!attempt!to!critically!grasp!the!current!situation.!!

This!paper!is!intended!as!a!contribution!to!the!recent!discussions!about!the!consequences!of!the!radical! switch! towards! an! individual(centered! understanding! of! work! and! employment.! I! will! use! the! case! of! highly!skilled!workers!in!a!middle!scale!city!in!Romania,!Cluj,!in!order!to!empirically!describe!the!types!of! situations,! choices! and! understandings! that! a! labor! market! operating! under! the! wider! umbrella! of! employability!result!in.!I!will!show!that!even!for!the!most!privileged!categories!of!workers,!those!who! manage! to! secure! a! relatively! decent! living! for! themselves,! the! framework! of! employability! results! in! precarious!situations.!After!a!short!review!of!the!main!strands!of!literature!that!has!dealt!with!various! aspects! of! the! normative! pressures! that! current! workers! are! subjected! to! and! the! methodological! considerations,! I! will! proceed! to! an! ethnographic! description! of! the! main! tension! lines! in! the! career! fields! (Mayrhofer! et! al,! 2003)! of! Information! Technology! and! Human! Resources! employees.! The! description! gives! empirical! flash! to! my! argument! that! despite! the! variety! of! definitions! and! understandings! that! actors! have! of! what! career! success,! advancement! and! legitimate! strategies! are,! they! all! share! an! understanding! of! themselves! as! workers! who! can! increase! the! security! of! their! livelihoods!only!by!relying!on!themselves!and!their!increased!employability.!!!!

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Exemplary$workers,$critique$and$employability$ Ten!Bos!and!Rhodes!offer!a!convincing!account!of!how!the!normative!vision!of!the!“exemplary!worker”! has! changed! together! with! the! change! in! the! logic! of! capital! accumulation.! The! story! goes! that! the!

“Taylorist!automat”,!the!ultimate!executor!with!no!personal!creativity,!who!relies!on!the!state!and!the! employer!for!security!is!now!being!replaced!by!the!flexible,!team(work!oriented,!creative,!self(directing! autonomous! individual! that! fits! the! decentralized,! flexible! logic! of! the! economy! (Ten! Bos! and! Rhodes!

2003).! It! is! no! longer! respect! for! hierarchies! and! flawless! fulfillment! of! objectives! set! by! those! on! a! higher! level! of! authority,! but! enthusiastic! engagement,! initiative,! availability! and! desire! to! become! involved!and!invest!one’s!creative!energies!and!potential.!The!exemplary!workers!are!easily!adaptable! and! their! autonomy! makes! them! not! need! detailed! instructions! for! their! task! fulfillment.! They! inspire! and!mobilize!the!others!around!them.!Attributes!that!used!to!be!categorised!as!“female”!features,!like! empathy!and!attention!to!others’!desires!and!potential,!and!therefore!inappropriate!for!the!proper!male! manager,!now!become!central!to!the!very!definition!of!the!“passionate!manager”!(Hatcher,!2003).!!

In!the!current!stage!of!capitalism,!the!iconic!form!of!organization!is!not!the!large!and!multi(layered!firm! with!a!rather!constant!structure!through!time.!On!the!contrary,!it!is!a!world!of!projects,!of!temporary! arrangements! between! individuals,! having! only! a! clear! duration! and! aim.! Every! individual’s! future! is! uncertain! at! the! end! of! each! of! these! projects.! Therefore,! what! is! at! stake! in! projects! is! not! only! its! successful!completion,!but!the!personal!performance,!which,!in!case!is!satisfactory,!will!trigger!further! engagements.!The!purposefulness!that!was!inscribed!in!the!fordist!imagery!of!the!individual!life!course! project! is! taken! away,! as! the! new! requirements! are! those! of! constant! adaptability! and! lack! of! attachment.!The!only!red!thread!for!the!life!project!inscribed!in!the!new!logic!is!that!of!the!employability!!

It!is!in!dialogue!with!management!literature!and!in!reaction!to!their!normative!imposition!of!“exemplary! workers”! that! critical! management! studies! have! emerged! as! a! field! of! scholarly! enquiry.! The! range! of! topics!covered!is!broad!and!so!are!the!theoretical!positions!that!they!anchor!their!critique!in.!Within!this! field,!a!range!of!scholars!situating!themselves!in!the!line!of!analysis!opened!by!Foucault’s!discussion!of! governmentality! have! produced! convincing! accounts! of! what! they! call! the! “neoliberal! subjectivity”,! understood!as! the! ways! in! which! subjects! are! governed! as! market! agents,! encouraged! to! cultivate! themselves!as!autonomous,!self(interested!individuals,!and!to!view!their!resources!and! aptitudes! as! human! capital! for! investment! and! return.! Neoliberal! governmentality! presumes!a!more!or!less!continuous!series!that!runs!from!those!macro(technologies!by! which!states!govern!populations,!to!the!micro(technologies!by!which!individuals!govern! themselves,! allowing! power! to! govern! individuals! “at! a! distance,”! as! individuals! translate! and! incorporate! the! rationalities! of! political! rule! into! their! own! methods! for! conducting!themselves!!(Binkley!2009:62)!

To!take!one!example!only:!the!observation!that!employees!do!not!enjoy!(and!cannot!claim)!security!in! the! traditional! sense,! in! which! it! is! guaranteed! by! the! nexus! of! the! (national)! welfare! state! and! the!

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! ! employer!also!has!the!quality!of!polarizing!responses.!The!reading!stemming!from!a!normative!position! proposes! that! it! allows! people! to! explore! a! variety! of! settings! through! the! various! projects! (and! therefore! fulfill! their! talents! and! capabilities).! In! this! view! security! is! redefined! so! that! it! does! not! depend! on! (imperfect)! organizations! (like! the! welfare! state),! but! one! that! is! embodied! by! the! person! and! their! unique! qualities! which! will! make! them! wanted! by! others.! From! the! critical! position! of! governmentality! scholars,! this! redefinition! is! only! the! description! that! individuals! are! invited! (and! pressured)!to!internalize,!so!that!the!market!has!a!stronger!grip!on!them,!minimizing!their!independence! from! it! and! maximizing! their! reasons! to! take! part! in! the! circuits! of! production.! Therefore,! when! individuals! talk! about! how! the! flexibility! of! the! new! era! gives! them! the! opportunity! to! explore! more! facets!of!their!personality!and!fulfill!the!whole!range!of!their!talents,!they!are!simply!proving!that!they! have!internalized!the!definition!of!themselves!as!the!actors!that!the!market!wants!them!to!be.!From!this! standpoint!scholars!talking!about!the!openings!brought!by!the!“dynamism!of!modernity”!for!people!to! “exercise!a!higher!degree!of!meaningful!autonomy!over!their!lives”!are!legitimizing!the!current!power! structure!structure!of!power.!

There!is,!however,!another!crucial!point!that!is!problematic!with!the!foucauldian!critical!management! studies,!regardless!of!how!useful!their!insights!into!the!way!individuals!are!invoked!as!the!right!agents! for! the! circuits! of! production.! The! initial! formulation! of! governmentality! differentiated! between! the! pressure!towards!the!formation!of!a!certain!subject!and!the!processes!of!self(production!on!the!actor’s! side.! Also,! governmentality! “is! always! a! versatile! equilibrium,! with! complementarity! and! conflicts! between! techniques! which! assure! coercion! and! processes! through! which! the! self! is! constructed! or! modified!by!himself”!(Foucault,!1993:203(4).!However,!this!implicit!indeterminacy!that!this!conception! of! the! workings! of! governmentality! holds! tends! to! be! diminished! in! recent! studies! (Binkley,! 2009)! .!

Instead,!the!focus!lies!on!describing!the!scripts!for!subjectivity!that!individuals!are!exposed!to!through! “the! institutional! logics,! the! assemblages,! technologies! and! dispositifs”! (Binkley,! 2009:62)! and! on! documenting! the! link! between! elements! of! individuals’! understandings! of! themselves! and! the! macro( technologies!of!government!they!are!targeted!by.!!

Contrary!to!views!which!do!not!give!much!role!to!the!critics!of!capitalism!in!influencing!the!direction!in! which! the! system! develops,! critique! plays! a! crucial! explanatory! role! in! the! model! of! social! change! outlined!by!Boltanski!and!Chiapello!(2005a,!b).!The!macro!switch!from!the!second!to!the!third!phase!of! the!spirit!of!capitalism!(or!the!rise!of!the!second/late/liquid/post!modernity,!neoliberal!era)!is!centered! upon!the!changes!happening!at!the!level!of!the!formulation!of!the!reasons!and!ways!in!which!people!are! invited! to! be! involved! in! the! capitalist! system! and!the! source! of! this! change! lies! in! the! critique! of! the!

1960s.!

They! argue! that! the! main! pillars! of! critique! in! the! 1960s! were! the! artistic! one! (with! emphasis! on! the! dehumanization! entailed! in! the! industrial! models! of! organization! of! work,! ripping! people! off! their! possibilities! of! expression,! creativity! and! innovation)! and! the! social! one! (denouncing! bad! working! conditions!and!contracts,!exploitation).!Looking!at!the!new!spirit!of!capitalism!that!emerged!after!this! crisis,! the! connection! between! its! core! elements! and! the! concepts! the! artistic! critique! was! directed! against! the! previous! one! is! striking.! Through! this! indigenization! of! critique,! a! displacement! occurs,!

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! ! leading!to!a!new!historical!variety!of!the!capitalist!principles.!In!the!new!phase,!it!is!capital!that!reminds! people!how!important!it!is!to!be!creative!and!autonomous!and!promises!them!that!involvement!in!the! circuits!of!production!will!bring!exactly!this.!“Creativity”!or!“autonomy”,!therefore!have!been!stripped!of! much!of!their!critical!edge:!instead!of!a!weapon!in!the!alternative!representations!of!the!workers!that! puts!pressure!on!the!logic!of!the!system,!it!becomes!a!weapon!in!the!self(representation!of!capital!itself.!

Critique!is!therefore!disarmed!and!at!least!temporarily!incapable!of!using!the!same!terms.!!

The!new!spirit!of!capitalism!fed!itself!from!the!sources!of!indignation!and!the!moral!dilemmas!identified! by!its!opponents,!and!selectively!articulated!them!into!a!new!representation.!Scripts!for!subjectivity!are! therefore! seductive! and! concrete! individuals! are! often! times! inclined! to! take! them! for! granted! and! represent!their!own!lives!and!desires!in!their!terms.!The!reason!for!this!comes!exactly!from!the!fact!that! they!are!formed!by!elements!which!addressed!real!problems,!indignations!and!struggles!of!individuals.!

Involvement!in!capitalism!is!no!longer!amoral!as!the!system!manages!to!solve!its!absurdity!by!veiling!it! in!the!relevant!moral!elements!that!those!struggling!to!escape!it!have!made!salient.!We!can,!therefore! not!dismiss!any!narrative!that!uses!concepts!that!make!up!the!spirit!of!capitalism.!If!we!do!so,!we!take! contemporary!people’s!right!to!engage!and!identify!with!concepts!that!resulted!from!other!individuals’! struggles!to!transform!their!involvement!in!the!circuits!of!production!to!their!advantage.!We!take!away! the! possibility! of! the! formation! of! equivalences! between! indignations! formed! in! different! phases! of! capital! accumulation,! which! actually! hint! at! the! systemic! constants! beyond! the! diversity! of! forms! it! takes.!!Instead,!we!need!to!explore!and!make!salient!what!it!is!that!contemporary!subjects!are!trying!to! express!when!using!these!concepts.!!!

The!role!given!by!Boltanski!and!Chiapello!to!critique!in!social!change!is!inductive!to!the!idea!of!studying! empirically!the!type!of!indignations!that!people!living!in!contemporary!capitalism!have!and!the!spaces! open! for! them! to! express! this! critique.! I! start! from! an! increasingly! shared! assumption! that! the! solidification!of!the!normative!regimes!for!subjects!around!the!notion!of!employability!places!people!in! the!impossibility!of!making!radical!claims!from!either!employers!or!the!state!and!turn!themselves!into! the! only! possible! entity! to! act! upon! (Berglund,! 2013,! Chertkovskaya! ,! 2013,! Vesterberg,! 2013,! de! Sá!

Mello!da!Costa!and!Saraiva,!2012,!Cremin,!2010).!In!line!with!the!recent!preoccupations!with!the!traps! of!employability,!I!turn!below!to!the!case!of!Information!Technology!and!Human!Resources!employees! in!Cluj,!Romania!to!ethnographically!document!the!type!of!situations!they!are!facing!in!their!professional! lives!and!the!type!of!lens!for!interpreting!these!situations!that!they!have.!The!purpose!of!my!analysis!is! to! show! that! even! for! this! category! that! is! rather! privileged,! the! logic! of! employability! still! results! in! precariousness.!In!the!final!section,!I!will!discuss!the!political!and!policy!implications!of!my!study.!!

Methodology$ The!empirical!material!on!which!this!paper!is!based!comes!primarily!from!44!semi(structured!interviews! conducted!in!the!last!months!of!2013.!Half!of!interviewees!were!working!in!the!IT!sector,!either!on!entry! positions,! as! junior! developers,! senior! developers,! testers! and! team! leaders.! The! other! half! were! working!on!a!position!in!the!Human!Resources!department!of!a!firm,!either!on!a!junior!position,!as!an!

HR! specialist! or! generalist.! Out! of! the! 22! HR! people! interviewed,! 9! were! working! in! IT! firms.! I! have!

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! ! sought!variety!in!what!the!size,!profile!and!sector!of!the!firms!was!concerned,!in!order!to!get!to!as!many! different!types!of!experiences!as!possible.!

The!reason!why!these!two!professions!were!chosen!is!that!I!wanted!to!be!able!to!look!into!the!type!of! consequences!that!the!shift!towards!flexibilization!of!markets!and!careers!and!the!pressure!placed!on! individuals!to!rely!on!their!employability!has!for!those!working!in!domains!that!are!doing!well.!In!Cluj,! the!middle!scale!city!in!Romania!that!my!research!was!based!in,!the!IT!sector!is!the!logical!choice!for! such!research!interests,!given!the!fact!that!it!is!a!blooming!sector,!having!the!largest!share!of!employees! in! the! local! economy.! The! domain! of! Human! Resources! was! chosen! because! it! is! a! relatively! newly! formed!career!field,!which!is!also!among!the!most!successful!areas!for!employment.!I!expected!that!the! similarities! and! the! differences! between! the! two! domains! would! allow! me! to! make! a! more! general! argument!about!the!effects!of!the!framework!of!employability!on!the!highly!skilled!workforce.!!

The!interview!guide!inquired!about!the!entire!trajectory!of!the!informant,!starting!with!their!choice!for! the! university! and! their! experience! during! the! studies! and! ending! with! their! current! employment! situation.!I!probe!on!details!about!the!turning!points!in!the!careers,!the!overall!context!in!which!these! changes!took!place,!their!reactions!and!motivations.!I!attempted!to!get!an!image!of!the!strategies!they! had!when!switching!jobs!(for!example!the!type!of!networks!they!were!mobilizing),!their!motivations!for! doing!so!and!the!alternatives!they!felt!they!had!at!various!points,!even!if!they!did!not!get!materialized.!It! also!asked!about!the!strategies!they!had!to!exit!situations!that!they!were!unhappy!with.!The!last!part!of! the!interview!focuses!on!their!plans!for!the!future!and!the!background!information!that!had!not!been! mentioned!so!far!(their!parents’!occupation!and!level!of!education,!the!way!they!assess!their!parents’! opinion!about!their!professional!life!course!so!far).!!!

Building$a$career$in$contemporary$Cluj$–$an$ethnographic$account$ The! following! sections! are! based! on! the! ethnographic! material! I! have! gathered! and! the! themes! that! have!emerged!from!its!analysis.!First,!I!compare!the!type!of!choice!the!domain!itself!represented!for!the! subjects.!Second,!I!look!at!the!differences!that!arise!from!the!type!of!skills!that!are!required!in!the!two! domains!and!the!extent!to!which!they!are!visible!for!the!employers!and!the!wider!society.!Third,!I!look!at! the! similarities! between! the! two! types! of! workers! and! substantiate! my! claim! that! it! is! in! a! logic! of! increasing! their! employability! that! they! understand! themselves! as! subjects.! Finally,! I! examine! the! question! whether! my! interviewees! belong! to! the! category! of! people! for! whom! the! framework! of! employability!is!an!empowering!one,!or!they!are!also!subjected!to!precarious!situations.!!

The$choice$of$and$passion$for$the$domain$$ The! interviewees! working! on! a! position! labeled! as! belonging! to! the! larger! field! of! Information!

Technology!had!a!clear!sense!of!the!profile!of!their!work,!despite!the!large!differences!between!working! as! a! software! developer,! tester,! hardware! programmer! or! project! manager.! They! usually! have! a! clear! professional! identity! and! all! my! interviewees! had! graduated! from! a! university! specialization! in! this! domain.! The! profile! of! this! job! has! a! large! social! visibility! and! it! is! a! career! track! that! can! be! easily! envisaged!early!on!during!primary!and!high(school!education,!as!the!university!degrees!in!this!domain!

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! ! have!a!long!tradition.!Consequently,!the!decision!of!following!a!technical!track!was!taken!very!early!on! in!their!high(school!or!even!primary!school!years,!with!three!notable!exceptions.!The!exception!to!the! rule! were! those! who! did! follow! an! old! passion! when! choosing! a! university! track! by! having! been! passionate!computer!users!in!their!early!youth.!However,!initially!they!treated!this!passion!as!a!hobby! rather!than!a!career!orienting!path.!Also,!while!all!the!interviewees!were!graduates!of!IT,!some!of!them! had! also! other! graduate! studies! like! Law! or! Natural! Sciences.! Coherent! with! their! early! choice! of! the! domain,! all! the! ITsts! interviewed! described! their! jobs! in! terms! of! a! passion! for! it:! having! always! liked! computers,! programming,! designing,! gaming! and! being! happy! to! be! able! to! convert! it! into! a! job! that! pays! well.! While! the! degree! to! which! they! acclaimed! passion! and! enthusiasm! differed,! none! of! them! failed! to! mention! at! least! in! passing! the! fact! that! the! content! of! their! daily! activities! is! in! itself! highly! rewarding!and!something!they!are!happy!to!pursue.!!

The! description! above! comes,! on! certain! dimensions,! in! sharp! contrast! to! the! situation! of! the! interviewees!employed!on!a!Human!Resources!position.!Firstly,!the!identity!of!the!domain!itself!on!the! labor!market!is!much!less!clearly!institutionalized!than!IT,!lacking!the!same!visibility!and!clarity!that!IT! has.! In! the! early! 1990s,! almost! no! firm! in! Cluj,! or! in! Romania! in! general,! had! an! HR! department! and,! while!the!situation!has!significantly!changed!in!the!following!years,!it!is!still!the!case!that!not!all!firms! consider!HR!as!one!of!the!key!departments!in!the!firm!(Simionca,!2012).!Secondly,!it!is!only!in!the!last! years!that!universities!started!offering!formal!training!(MA!and!BA)!under!this!specialization,!therefore! making! the! match! between! the! degree! specialization! and! the! position! on! the! labor! market! less! direct! than! the! one! for! IT! workers.! Therefore,! the! extent! to! which! their! job! matches! a! life(long! passion! is! smaller.!The!cases!in!which!people!have!seriously!considering!alternative!career!tracks!are!much!more! frequent,!as!well!as!the!cases!of!actual!more!or!less!radical!changes!(ranging!from!clinical!psychology!to! engineering).! A! certain! interest! in! human! interactions! and! psychology! is! the! most! recurring! argument! made!in!favor!of!a!passion!for!the!profession.!Alongside!this!general!interest,!the!profession!was!many! times!chosen!because!people!had!a!sense!that!it!is!a!new!one,!and!therefore!the!market!is!not!saturated! with!professionals!yet.!

I! noticed! a! certain! trend! in! the! job! announcements,! that! they! were! looking! often! times! for! HR,! specialists,! generalists…! or! that! they! were! offering! either! paid! or! unpaid! internships.! Then,! I’ve! heard!from!older!colleagues!who!graduated!the!MA!program!in!my!department!(Psychology)!that! they!were!able!to!get!a!job!while!still!studying,!in!this!domain,!which!is!very!good.!I!had!read!a! study! saying! that! very! few! graduates! are! able! to! practice! the! profession! they! have! trained! for.!

Then! I! thought! that! HR! offers! you! ! this! possibility,! it! offers! you! the! stability! you! need! in! your! career…!Well,!as!far!as!the!open!mindnedness!of!the!managers!also!allow!it,!of!course.!

(HR,!female,!28)!

Specific$and$transferable$skills$and$types$of$jobs$within$the$IT$and$HR$domains$ The!university!years!were!seldom!simply!dedicated!to!school!and!leisure,!as!most!of!the!interviewees!in! both! professions! consider! their! careers! to! have! actually! started! at! that! time.! Either! working! full! time,! part!time,!as!free!lancers!or!doing!internships!and!volunteering,!most!of!them!had!had!a!direct!contact! with!the!world!of!work!before!having!a!university!degree.!The!logic!of!gaining!experience!and!of!building! up!one’s!CV!starting!with!the!first!years!of!university!is!clearly!visible!in!their!accounts,!as!is!elsewhere!

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(Tomlinson,!2012,!Robert,!2000).!The!employers!are!viewed!as!very!unlikely!to!hire!graduates!that!do! not! have! any! proof! of! their! proactivity! and! willingness! to! invest! in! themselves! and! their! constant! improvement.!!

There!is!a!difference!between!the!two!fields!in!relation!to!the!type!of!skills!that!they!believe!they!are! expected!to!have!by!potential!employers.!For!those!oriented!towards!the!IT!sector,!the!technical!skills! are!extremely!important.!The!hiring!interviews!have!a!technical!test!that!must!be!passed!in!order!for!the! person!to!be!considered!for!employment.!While!these!skills!are!obtained!to!a!great!extent!through!the! courses!taken!in!the!university,!it!is!a!recurrent!belief!that!this!is!not!enough:!!

Had!I!not!been!this!curious!geek!and!try!to!learn!on!my!own!this!new!programming!language!just! because!I!wanted!to!solve!a!problem,!they!would’ve!never!hired!me.!There’s!a!certain!minimum! that!you!get!in!school.!That’s!important,!I’m!not!saying!it’s!not.!But!it’s!not!enough,!you!need!to! have!your!little!projects,!little!curiosities,!to!be!stubborn!and!keep!trying!until!you!get!it.!Then!you! know!more,!and!you!can!also!convince!them!that!even!if!you!don’t!know!something,!you!can!learn! and!you!will!learn!quick.”!

(Software!developer,!male,!30)!

Therefore,! in! his! view,! shared! by! other! as! well,! while! skills! that! are! technical! and! strictly! measurable! through!a!test!are!a!minimum!condition!for!success,!the!actual!differentiation!from!the!other!similarly! well!trained!candidates!comes!from!having!a!certain!proactive!attitude!towards!learning,!curiosity!and! stamina.!!

There!were!some!important!and!recurrent!distinctions!between!the!types!of!firms!one!can!work!for!in! the!narratives!of!the!IT!specialists.!The!first!type!referred!to!the!firms!which!contracted!rather!low(skill! projects! from! multinationals,! in! which! it! was! easy! to! get! hired! even! as! a! first! or! second! year! student,! because!the!complexity!of!tasks!was!rather!low.!Although!many!firms!offered!such!entry!positions,!they! also!had!more!complex!ones,!to!which!employees!could!aspire!for!the!future.!However,!some!firms!are! well! known! for! having! only! entry! level! skill! positions,! with! the! possibilities! of! advancement! consisting! strictly! of! becoming! a! team! manager.! A! second! major! type! consisted! of! usually! smaller! firms,! which! were!in!most!cases!spin(offs!initiated!by!people!who!had!worked!in!larger!companies!and!who!decided! to! start! taking! projects! on! their! own.! If! such! a! firm! was! at! the! beginning,! this! offered! possibilities! for! quickly!becoming!one!of!the!crucial!people!in!projects!and!in!the!firm!altogether.!The!third!type!were! large!employers,!which!offered!a!wide!array!of!possible!positions,!of!types!of!projects!and!skills!needed! for! them! and! a! rather! complex! system! of! seniority.! Alongside! these! types! of! firms,! the! interviewees! were!frequently!involved!in!freelance!projects.!!

Apart!from!the!differences!between!firms,!an!important!choice!setting!career!tracks!was!highlighted!by! the!interviewees!as!being!crucial:!that!between!being!simply!a!software!developer!(with!various!degrees! of!seniority)!!and!taking!on!managerial!positions.!In!most!of!the!firms,!as!work!is!organized!in!specialized! teams!on!different!projects,!the!position!of!team!leader!and!other!functions!involving!the!coordination! of!activities!were!important.!While!in!some!cases!the!team!leader!position!simply!assumed!some!extra! tasks!of!coordination!and!was!taken!alternatively!by!programmers,!in!other!cases,!where!the!projects! were!larger!and!more!complex,!the!team!leader!ended!up!doing!very!little!coding.!This!was!due!to!the!

7! !

! ! multiplicity! of! tasks! and! responsibilities! related! to! the! coordination,! planning! and! monitoring! the! project.!The!desirability!of!such!a!track!was!a!very!controversial!issue:!some!of!the!interviewees!declared! that! “I’m! an! IT! person.! I! do! coding.! I’m! a! loner.! It! would! be! a! nightmare! to! start! dealing! with! the! coordination.! That’s! not! real! IT!”.) For! others,! on! the! contrary,! it! represents! the! desired! challenge! and! step!forward!in!their!trajectory:!

I! love! having! the! big! picture! and! switching! between! lines! of! codes,! debugging,! planning,! evaluation,!motivation!of!people,!keeping!up!the!morale,!setting!reasonable!goals,!dealing!with! dead(ends.! Quite! a! challenge,! you! know?! I! like! to! think! of! it! like! this:! IT! is! about! programming! computers! and! I! love! that.! People! are! much! more! complicated! computers! than! the! computers! themselves.!So,!“programming!people”,!so!to!say,!is!like!the!peak!activity!of!the!IT!field!(laughs).!!

(IT,!team!leader,!male,!34)!

While!the!specific!skills!in!the!IT!domain!are!rather!un(problematically!defined,!it!is!less!the!case!for!HR.!

For!the!HR!field,!specific!skills!refer!to!having!the!know(how!of!performing!an!organizational!diagnosis,! conducting! interviews,! doing! 360! degrees! evaluations! and! so! on,! but! they! are! less! easily! measurable.!

Therefore,! in! the! discourses! of! those! working! in! HR,! the! soft! and! transferable! skills! play! a! more! prominent! role.! They! are! more! often! talking! about! the! importance! of! having! communication! skills,! team(work!aptitudes,!capacities!of!analysis,!multi(tasking.!This!is!even!more!the!case!in!situations!when! a!firm!is!hiring!for!the!first!time!a!person!on!an!HR!position!–!the!job!requirements!themselves!are!not! very!clear!and!therefore!the!evaluation!is!done!mostly!on!transferable!and!soft!skills!basis.!!

The!interviewees!recurrently!made!two!distinctions!between!the!type!of!jobs!that!are!available!under! the! broader! umbrella! of! HR! specialist! or! generalist.! The! first! is! that! between! a! small! firm! and! a! multinational!with!clearly!imported!organizational!culture!and!practices.!In!a!“small!firm”,!there!is!a!lot! of! room! for! implementing! visions! of! HR! management! that! the! employees! themselves! develop,! based! both!on!their!previous!experience!and!knowledge,!but!which!they!!need!to!adapt!to!the!specificities!of! that!particular!firm.!In!contrast,!in!a!firm!that!already!has!a!clearly!established!organizational!culture!and! a!vision!of!HR!management,!the!role!of!the!employee!in!an!HR!department!is!more!that!of!implementing! correctly!a!series!of!procedures!and!practices!established!elsewhere,!with!less!place!of!maneuver.!The! opinions! are! shared! as! to! which! of! the! two! kinds! is! a! preferable! working! place:! some! people! were! attracted! to! the! opportunity! of! being! innovative,! while! others! appreciated! the! possibility! of! learning! how!to!work!within!established!complex!frameworks.!It!was!often!times!the!case!that!the!second!type! of!situation!was!preferred!by!people!as!beginners’!jobs,!while!gradually!attempting!to!switch!to!the!first! type.!!

The!second!distinction!is!that!between!firms!in!which!the!management!acknowledges!the!centrality!of!a! strong!and!active!internal!HR!department!and!those!that!view!it!as!a!mere!administrative!position.!In! the!first!case,!the!HR!department!is!in!charge!of!“organizational!development,!behavioral!optimization,! studying! the! group! dynamics! and! phenomena! in! order! to! increase! job! satisfaction”! (HR! manager,! 28),! making! the! job! a! high! responsibility,! non(routine! one.! In! the! second! type,! the! HR! employee! is! strictly! responsible!with!keeping!track!of!the!work(time!invested!by!the!other!employees,!with!keeping!track!of! leaves! and! extra(hours! and! calculating! the! salaries.! There! are! also! the! firms! that! do! not! have! internal!

HR,!and!the!person!working!on!an!HR!position!is!strictly!responsible!with!recruitment!and!interviewing,!

8! !

! ! which!can!fall!under!either!the!first!or!the!second!category,!depending!on!the!degree!to!which!this!task! is!considered!important!by!the!management!and!the!active!involvement!of!the!HR!specialist!is!visible!in! the!changes!that!are!implemented.!

Most!of!the!interviewees!had!worked!at!least!for!a!short!period!of!time!in!a!firm!in!which!the!role!of!the!

HR!is!not!considered!very!important!by!the!management.!Their!struggle!was!either!to!find!a!different! job,!or,!in!some!cases,!to!influence!the!management!to!change!their!take!on!the!way!human!resources! are! managed! in! the! firm.! Having! such! an! experience! was! in! all! cases! reported! as! a! major! source! of! satisfaction:!!

In!the!beginning,!the!manager!said:!‘come,!you!do!the!paper!work,!whenever!we!need!someone! new,!you!find!it!for!us.!We’ll!see!if!there’s!anything!more!about!his!whole!HR!thing’.!In!the!four! years! I’ve! spent! there,! we! hired! three! new! people,! so! you! can! tell! that! recruitment! didn’t! take! much!of!my!time!–!laughs!–!So!I!did!what!he!told!me,!the!paperwork,!and!I!kept!looking!around,! talking! to! my! colleagues,! observing! and! asking.! And! after! a! few! months,! I! gathered! my! courage! and!went!to!the!manager!with!a!diagnosis!of!the!organization.!And!with!a!plan!of!action.!He!read! it,! he! was! interested,! he! asked! me! to! clarify! some! things! and! said! we’d! give! it! a! try.! First! with! some! small! steps.! But! then,! he! started! trusting! me! more! and! more! and! I! ended! up! being! very! involved.!I!can’t!tell!you!what!that!felt!like!.!!

(HR,!female,!28)!

However,!even!the!jobs!in!which!HR!is!a!routine!and!non(consequential!position!were!seen!as!useful:!!

After!the!first!year!working!there,!I!got!extremely!bored.!But!you!know,!very!very!bored.!I!wasn’t! doing!anything!new,!just!the!same!reports!every!month,!filling!in!the!same!tables!every!month.!I! actually! sat! and! wondered! whether! this! is! indeed! a! good! career! choice! for! me,! I! got! rather! desperate!thinking!this!is!what!I!could!be!doing!for!the!rest!of!my!life.!I!was!noticing!things!going! wrong!around!me,!I!had!some!ideas!on!how!they!could!be!improved,!but!my!suggestions!fell!on! deaf!years!with!the!managers.!But!I!did!learn!a!lot,!about!contracts,!about!the!law,!about!wages! and! calculating! work(time! and! extra! hours,! about! leaves.! I! did! grow! a! lot,! I! didn’t! know! those! things!in!the!beginning,!so!it!was!a!good!experience!in!the!end.!!

(HR,!female,!31)!

Only!one!of!the!interviewees!was!working!in!this!type!of!firm!at!the!moment!of!the!interview!and!she! was!considering!seeking!a!better!position!on!the!long!run;!however,!as!the!salary!was!rather!satisfying! and!she!was!afraid!that!the!labor!market!is!not!very!generous!at!the!moment,!she!was!not!unhappy!with! her!position.!!

Therefore,!for!people!working!in!HR,!it!is!often!time!the!case!that!carving!out!a!legitimate!space!for!their! profession!is!part!of!the!job!itself.!Being!able!to!prove!one’s!specific!skills(the!equivalent!of!technical!in!

IT)! ! is! in! many! cases! not! enough.! However,! as! more! and! more! firms! have! solid! HR! departments! and! many! of! the! corporations! that! outsource! their! work! in! Cluj! come! with! an! organizational! vision! that! places!importance!on!this!job,!the!field!is!growing.!Taking!part!in!trainings,!conferences!and!workshops,! as!well!as!becoming!part!of!professional!associations!are!all!techniques!used!by!these!employees!in!this! field!not!only!to!gain!specific!skills!and!knowledge,!but!also!to!increase!the!visibility!and!legitimacy!of!

9! !

! ! their!profession!in!the!eyes!of!the!managers!and!the!broader!workforce.!This!is!hardly!the!case!for!the!IT! workers,! whose! profile! is! much! more! visible! and! their! skills! and! importance! in! a! firm! are! rarely! contested!as!such.!

A!recurring!challenge!that!was!reported!by!many!of!the!employees!in!HR!was!the!fact!that!the!specific! activity!of!the!firm!they!work!for!is!something!that!needs!to!be!taken!from!scratch!whenever!they!switch! jobs.!For!example,!HR!employees!working!in!engineering!firms,!or!in!IT!firms!need!to!quickly!grow!fluent! in!speaking!the!professional!language!of!the!other!employees!if!they!want!to!gain!their!respect!and!to! be!considered!a!worthy!partner!of!conversation.!The!interviews!abounded!with!anecdotes!regarding!the! clumsiness!inherent!to!entering!a!new!field!of!production!due!to!the!lack!of!in(depth!understanding!of! the!content!of!the!jobs!of!the!people!they!needed!to!evaluate!and!motivate.!Often!times,!this!resulted! in! an! initial! downplaying! by! the! other! employees! of! the! potential! serious! role! of! HR.! This! type! of! situation!was!referred!to!from!the!other!side,!as!the!IT!interviewees!also!talked!about!the!HR!specialists! in!their!firms!as!either!“clumsy,!chatty!girls!that!know!nothing!about!what!we’re!doing,!but!are!very!nice! and! organize! parties”,! or! as! “knowledgeable! and! having! this! perspective! on! the! whole! firm! that! you! can’t! get! when! you! just! do! your! own! job.! She! was! very! helpful! in! making! me! understand! what! I! was! doing! wrong,! and! how! I! should! further! relate! to! my! own! career! and! to! my! work! here,! to! my! evaluations”.!

Working$in$IT$and$HR$in$contemporary$Cluj$–$different$yet$so$similarly$employable$ In!the!previous!section,!I!gave!a!description!of!the!main!parameters!of!working!in!the!fields!of!IT!and!HR! in!Cluj,!trying!to!synthetize!the!major!tensions!that!the!interviewees!described,!the!differences!that!they! see!among!their!actual!and!possible!employers!and!the!ways!in!which!they!relate!to!these.!While!the! type!of!occupational!profile,!the!actual!content!of!the!jobs,!and!the!salaries!vary!a!lot,!,!there!are!many! similarities!in!the!discourses!they!provided!when!describing!their!careers.!This!is!what!I!focus!on!next.!

One!such!commonality!that!is!visible!in!the!above!description!was!that!they!envisaged!multiple!logics!in! which!their!careers!could!be!pursued!in!their!domain.!While!there!is!indeed!a!constant!attempt!to!view! their! own! activities! and! careers! through! the! eyes! of! a! Boss! whose! approval! is! sought! (Cremin,! 2010)! there!is!a!patterned!variety!in!the!imagined!expectations.!The!literature!on!careers!rightly!describes!the! existence!of!a!plurality!of!subfields!within!the!larger!field!of!career!(Mayrhofer!et!al,!2003).!Among!the! employees! and! employers! of! a! certain! domain,! there! are! patterned! differences! in! their! definitions! of! success,! failure,! legitimate! strategies! of! advancement! (Mayrhofer! et! al,! 2003).! ! Consequently,! career( makers!sense!that!there!is!freedom!to!choose!whatever!suits!one!better:!either!routine!work,!or!highly! challenging!and!dynamic,!with!clear!rules!that!offer!the!satisfaction!of!always!knowing!where!you!stand! and!what!is!expected!of!you,!or!with!rules!in!the!making,!to!which!one!contributes!actively.!!

The! main! overarching! themes! which! organized! the! narratives! of! their! careers! were! those! of! growing! more!mature,!growing!more!experienced,!more!skillful,!passing!through!stages,!learning!and!enriching! oneself! through! the! activities! pursued,! even! those! that! were! unhappy! with! and! therefore! being! more! and! more! able! to! take! on! a! variety! of! tasks! and! positions.! It! became! visible! in! the! stories! told! by! IT! employees!that!the!firms,!exactly!through!the!HR!practices!embraced!were!very!active!in!promoting!and!

10! !

! ! maintaining!this!perspective!over!oneself!as!a!growing!developing!subject.!While!there!were!differences! among!the!firms!they!had!worked!in,!in!their!vast!majority!the!practices!of!evaluation!and!planning!were! centered! on! the! idea! of! setting! personal! goals! that! were! to! be! attained! either! through! the! direct! projects! in! which! they! worked! or! through! extra! participation! in! trainings,! courses! and! workshops.!

Employees! were! encouraged! to! actively! invest! in! projecting! a! desired! professional! future! for! themselves,! on! the! short,! medium! and! long! run,! to! set! benchmarks! and! methods! of! reaching! those! benchmarks.!The!extent!to!which!they!proved!interested!in!continuous!development!mattered!in!their! evaluations!alongside!the!actual!quality!of!the!tasks!they!performed!for!the!firm.!!

My!argument!at!this!point!is!that!the!narratives!of!both!the!IT!and!the!HR!employees!interviewed!can!be! best! described! as! falling! under! the! greater! category! of! the! employability! discourse,! which! sets! individuals!in!the!position!of!makers!of!their!own!faith!and!the!only!ones!responsible!for!the!outcome.$ With! no! exception,! the! interviewees! embraced! a! discourse! of! personal! development! and! growth.! All! jobs!and!other!activities!were!evaluated!in!relation!to!the!extent!to!which!they!offered!opportunities!for! development!of!skills,!aptitudes,!experience.!This!was!visible!from!their!accounts!of!the!early!years,!in! which!they!were!students!in!the!university!and!they!were!contemplating!the!idea!of!getting!a!first!job.!

While!some!of!their!positions!were!evaluated!in!negative!terms,!the!fact!of!having!acquired!experience! was!always!positively!mentioned.!!

Another! level! of! commonality! became! visible! when! interviewees! were! asked! to! discuss! their! most! positive!version!of!their!future.!In!a!majority!of!situations,!employees!envisaged!the!possibility!of!free( lancing,!of!entrepreneurship.!In!the!case!of!IT,!the!plans!usually!involved!spin(offs!(some!of!the!people! had!actually!done!that!already),!or!individual!free(lancing!project!work.!For!the!HR!domain,!the!option! was! seen! as! that! of! opening! their! own! consultancy! firm! (and! having! other! employees),! or! simply! individual!free(lancing!project!based!consultancy.!In!most!cases,!this!result!was!read!as!a!proof!that!their! level!of!employability!was!indeed!so!high!that!they!could!ensure!a!living!on!the!competitive!market!of! service!providing.!The!attractiveness!of!the!option!of!entrepreneurship!came!also!from!a!perceived!lack! of! dependence! of! a! manager’s! vision! and! restrictions! and! the! possibility! of! implementing! their! own! visions!of!business!and!life.!In!the!next!section!I!will!discuss!the!implications!of!the!idealization!of!this! career!path!for!the!type!on!the!relationship!of!the!employee!to!the!state!and!to!the!employer.!Namely,! as! the! insecurity! of! being! a! free(lancer! is! brushed! with! ideas! of! freedom! and! self(management! to! the! highest!extent,!the!risk!becomes!fully!individualized.!!

Precariousness$among$the$employable!

Thus!far,!I!offered!a!description!of!the!similarities!and!differences!of!working!in!the!domain!of!HR!and!IT! in! contemporary! Cluj! My! focus! in! the! following! section! is! to! analyze! the! type! of! moves! that! my! interviewees! have! made! when! they! were! in! situations! that! they! themselves! qualified! as! negative,! intolerable,! or! problematic.! Their! accounts! of! their! professional! life! stories! were! rather! rich! in! such! episodes!as!well,!in!which!they!were!unhappy!with!the!way!they!were!treated!by!their!employees,!their! colleagues,! the! way! their! work! was! recognized! or! paid.! The! guiding! question! behind! the! following! analysis! is! what! were! their! strategies! to! deal! with! negative! situations! and! whom! did! they! hold! accountable!for!them.!!

11! !

! !

The! very! first! jobs! in! their! careers! were! among! the! most! frequently! reported! as! being! unsatisfactory,! with! the! major! exception! of! those! who! declared! themselves! “extremely! lucky”.! It! was! often! the! case! that!people!either!worked!for!very!small!salaries!(still!relying!on!help!from!their!parents),!worked!extra! hours!or!did!highly!routine!work.!However,!there!was!little!doubt!for!them!that!there!is!some!‘normalcy’! to!this!situation:!!

I!was!a!beginner,!what!could!I!expect?!Yes,!money!was!so!little!that!I!can’t!even!imagine!getting! out! of! bed! for! that! right! now.! It! wasn’t! enough! to! pay! half! the! rent,! I! mean! THAT! little.! But! I! gritted!my!teeth!and!went!there!every!day,!I!knew!I!had!to!start!somewhere.!I!wanted!to!leave! after! the! first! month,! but! then! a! friend! explained! to! me! that! it! would! look! bad! on! my! CV,! so! I! stayed!for!another!11.!A!whole!year!I!stayed!there,!living!with!my!parents!this!whole!time.!And! they!always!had!people!like!me,!who!came,!had!a!bit!of!experience!and!then!left.!But!people!need! to!start!somewhere,!and!they!know!it,!so!they!can!afford!doing!this.!I!did!learn!a!lot,!though.!

(IT,!male,!32)!

The! argument! of! the! way! leaving! a! job! too! quickly! would! look! in! the! eyes! of! future! employers! was! brought! up! recurrently! and! not! only! for! the! first! jobs.! People! would! many! times! tolerate! what! they! perceived!as!unfair!treatment!from!the!management!or!colleagues,!extra!hours!or!excessive!workload! thinking!that!they!cannot!afford!to!change!jobs!too!quickly!because!it!would!lower!their!future!chances! of!employment.!!

The! most! extreme! situation! was! reported! by! one! interviewee! currently! working! at! an! IT! position! referring!to!one!of!the!largest!and!most!prosperous!Romanian!IT!firms!in!Bucharest,!for!which!he!had! worked!before!moving!to!Cluj.!!

There! were! two! categories! of! people:! the! workaholics,! we’d! call! them! brainwashed,! very! dedicated,!proper!Talibans,!you!know?!They!wouldn’t!say!anything!bad!about!the!firm,!the!extra! hours! or! anything.! And! then! we! were! those! who! had! a! bit! of! critical! spirit,! who! would! also! comment!every!once!in!a!while.!But!we!were!a!minority.!It’s!there!that!I!realized!that!for!money! people!would!do!anything.!Including!to!prostitute,!to!ruin!their!personal!life.!I!had!two!colleagues! who!fainted!in!the!office!and!a!third!one!who!had!a! perforated!ulcer,!the!ambulance!came!and! took! him! straight! from! the! office,! he! was! laying! on! the! desk,! right! in! front! of! me,! three! desks! away.!Awful.!But!I!think!I!learnt!something!from!this.!

(IT,!male,!34)!

The! type! of! situations! described! above! were! among! the! most! extreme! mentioned! in! the! interviewes.!

Even! though! an! extreme! case,! the! mechanisms! that! made! it! possible! are! easily! identifiable! in! other! similar,!albeit!less!dire,!cases.!

Nobody!is!forcing!you!to!stay!overtime.!It’s!just!that!the!ones!above!see!that!you’re!leaving!at!5! when! the! program! is! over,! while! the! others! stay! until! 10! in! the! evening.! It! wasn’t! good,! issues! were!starting!to!arise.!Either!the!boss!would!come!and!give!you!a!notice!that!you’re!not!becoming! involved,!that!you!don’t!care!about!the!team.!Or,!even!nastier!things,!they!would!forget!about!you! when!salaries!were!raised,!you!were!reassigned!to!an!office!in!a!very!isolated!place,!with!a!bad! chair,!stuff!like!this.!There!was!even!a!case!with!a!colleague!of!mine!that!they!wanted!to!get!rid!of,!

12! !

! ! but,! because! they! didn’t! have! any! clear! professional! reason! to! do! this,! they! started! to! do! this! mafia!type!of!pressures.!They!started!by!not!assigning!her!to!new!tasks,!they!cut!her!access!to!the! internet! and! even! took! her! laptop! away.! She! was! pregnant,! had! another! child! at! home! and! her! husband!was!unemployed.!What!do!you!do!in!such!situations?!

(IT,!male,!34)! !

The! question! asked! by! the! interviewer! at! this! point! intended! to! find! out! how! come! there! was! no! reference! to! the! contractual! stipulations,! how! come! the! employees! that! were! treated! in! a! straightforwardly! illegal! manner! did! not! appeal! to! the! law.! This! was! a! pertinent! question! especially! because! the! employer! was! a! large,! successful,! legally! established! company,! having! multiple! contracts! with!clients!nationally!and!internationally!rather!than!a!grey(sector!firm.!

I!never!thought!of!the!contract.!You!know,!if!you!work!for!a!private!company,!you!take!this!type!of! risk.!Of!overtime,!of!unequal!treatment,!inhuman!physical!strain,!impoliteness.!People!would!shut! up!and!take!it,!for!the!money,!they!had!kids!to!raise,!in!Bucharest!life!is!expensive,!if!you!don’t! earn,!you!don’t!eat.!It!wasn’t!my!case,!I!didn’t!have!a!family,!but!I!did!have!great!plans.!They!all! went!to!hell.!!

(IT,!male,!34)!

The!mechanism!of!putting!pressure!on!employees!to!stay!extra!hours!and!not!hold!the!contractual!work! limit!as!binding!has!been!documented!before!in!the!context!of!Cluj!(Petrovici,!2010,!Simionca!2012).!It! was!also!reported!by!other!interviewees,!who!felt!that!what!is!desired!from!them!by!the!employer!is!to! prove!that!they!are!not!wining,!old(fashioned!workers!with!“socialist!mentalities”!who!are!not!willing!to! go!the!extra!mile!for!the!company.!The!discourse!of!employability!places!individual!growth!at!the!center! of!the!legitimate!motivational!constellation!of!workers!and!any!expression!of!a!desire!to!limit!personal! involvement! or! to! draw! boundaries! is! framed! as! proof! of! a! lack! of! genuine! commitment! (Simionca,!

2012).! This! is! a! general! aspect! that! all! workers! around! the! world! entering! the! labor! market! as! “employable!subjects”!are!pressured!by.!However,!its!strength!and!legitimacy!are!increased!in!the!post( socialist!context!that!my!interviewees!are!operating!in.!!

The! “employable! worker”,! the! one! that! is! in! charge! of! her! own! faith! and! does! not! expect! other! institutions! to! protect! her! (like! the! employer! or! the! state)! is! presented! in! sharp! opposition! to! the! “communist!worker”,!for!whom!unemployment!has!never!been!a!threat!and!therefore!had!no!incentive! of!personal!development!and!growth!(Simionca!2012).!Proving!that!they!are!fully!immersed!in!the!new! logic,! which! is! specific! to! the! capitalist,! ‘Western! way’! of! production,! has! the! important! embedded! dimension! of! proving! to! be! a! worthy! subject! that! rid! herself! of! the! old! communist! ways! of! doing! and! seeing!one’s!role!in!society.!!

13! !

! !

In! the! normative! context! of! the! global! quest! for! employability! and! more! local! quest! for! distancing! oneself!from!communist!mentalities,!the!analytical!question!pertains!to!the!strategies!employees!have! for!avoiding!situations!they!deem!unfair!and!to!whom!they!can!call!out!as!responsible.!The!two!entities! that! could! be! legitimately! expected! from! a! theoretical! point! of! view! to! be! hold! responsible! are! the! employer! and! the! state! (through! its! institutions! whose! role! is! to! watch! over! the! observance! of! contractual!regulations!and!proper!conditions!of!work).!Empirically,!however,!neither!the!employer!nor! the! state! were! called! out! and! held! responsible! for! any! of! the! problematic! situations! reported.! The! discourse! of! employability! places! the! responsibility! and! source! of! security! on! the! individual! herself,! therefore!making!illegitimate!any!claims!either!towards!the!employer!or!to!the!state.!!

The!two!strategies!that!were!used!by!the!interviewees!when!faced!with!abusive!situations!were:!1)!that! of! trying! to! better! match! the! requirements! of! the! employer! and! 2)! that! of! leaving! the! firm.! The! first! strategy!is!the!one!used!by!the!employees!in!the!example!above,!and!by!many!others!interviewed!when! trying!to!have!a!behavior!that!matches!the!expectations!of!the!management,!even!if!with!some!distance! towards!it!(Chertkovskaya,!2013).!This!can!involve!staying!extra!hours,!not!taking!leaves,!taking!on!extra! tasks! and! ending! up! doing! activities! that! are! not! stipulated! in! their! contract! and! that! would! be! more! fairly!divided!among!two!people.!Attempts!to!resist!and!refuse!these!practices!can!easily!result!in!either! a!marginalization!of!the!worker!and!his!labeling!as!a!counter(example,!or!even!in!dismissals.!There!were,! however,!several!cases!in!which!people!successfully!negotiated!better!conditions!for!themselves,!either! through!direct!discussions!with!the!manager!or!with!the!HR!departments.!However,!the!degree!to!which! such! negotiations! are! successful! largely! depends! on! the! personal! traits! of! the! people! in! charge! rather! than! on! a! shared! understanding! of! the! fact! that! employers! are! legally! bound! to! provide! decent! conditions!of!employment.!!

The! second! strategy! is! either! used! in! extreme! situations! or! by! people! who! are! aware! that! they! are! “employable!enough”!and!therefore!are!able!to!easily!find!better!jobs!for!themselves.!These!situations! were!reported!quite!often:!!

I!told!him:!I’m!going!to!leave!if!things!don’t!change.!He!didn’t!believe!me,!but!I!clearly!knew!my!

CV! and! my! worth.! So! I! surprised! him! and! left! –! laughs.! Of! course,! I! doubt! he! treated! the! next! person! he! hired! better,! but! I! was! out! of! that! awful! place.! My! current! job,! I! told! you,! it’s! incomparable,!I’m!quite!happy.!!

(IT,!male,!30)!

As!it!becomes!obvious!from!the!above!quote,!these!are!strictly!individual!solutions!to!problems!that!are! actually! of! the! entire! firm! and! of! all! the! employees! working! there.! Those! who! have! a! better! leverage!

14! !

! ! manage! to! position! themselves! better! by! switching! to! other! employment.! However,! even! those! to! whom!the!exit!strategy!was!available!in!a!certain!situation!are!aware!of!the!fact!that!they!do!depend!on! the!larger!market,!on!the!fact!that!there!are!many!firms!and!that!they!can!afford!to!choose!only!if!they! are!employable!enough.!!

Trying!to!change!the!employer’s!attitude!and!expectations!was!atempted!by!several!people!and!it!was!a! successful! endeavor! for! those! who! managed! to! make! a! case! that! they! are! not! easily! ! replacable! and! therefore!negotiated!a!better!position!for!themselves.!However,!in!none!of!the!cases!reported!was!the! argument!made!in!terms!of!contractual!stipulation,!or!by!appealing!to!the!illegality!of!the!practice.!The! state!and!its!institutions!that!are!in!charge!with!labor!protection!were!oddly!not!mentioned!in!any!of!the! discourses,!not!even!when!explicitly!prompted!by!the!interviewer.!The!same!was!the!case!for!those!who! left! certain! firms,! whose! gesture! of! resistance! and! defiance! never! translated! into! taking! collective! or! legal! action.! Therefore,! these! subjects! strictly! relied! on! their! employability! in! their! attempts! to! avoid! negative! situations:! either! through! negotiating! with! the! employer! a! better! personal! situation! (as! opposed! to! an! equally! plausible! collective! version)! or! left! relying! on! ! other! employers! that! would! acknowledge!their!employability.!!

The!fact!that!it!is!exactly!employability!that!offers!the!possibility!of!a!way!out!of!unpleasant!situations!is! a!good!indicator!of!the!precariousness!that!these!employees!are!actually!subjected!to.!Within!the!firm,! they! depend! on! the! willingness! of! the! management! to! acknowledge! their! worth! and! therefore! are! caught!irremediably!in!the!game!of!proving!their!employability!in!the!terms!that!the!particular!employer! defines! it.! Within! the! wider! labor! market,! they! depend! on! the! existence! of! alternative! employers! to! whom! they! can! make! claims! using! the! same! individualized! language! of! employability.! There! is! no! collective! bargaining! power! and! their! temporarily! good! situation! is! very! much! left! at! the! whims! of! employers! (who! many! time! progressively! become! more! and! more! demanding)! or! the! whims! of! the! market.! The! latter! were! extremely! visible! during! the! crisis,! when! people! were! left! almost! without! the! option! of! exit,! due! to! the! contraction! of! the! market! altogether.! Referring! back! to! those! years,! the! interviewees!were!aware!of!the!extent!to!which!their!leverage!power!is!actually!limited.!!

My!argument!in!this!section!is!that!once!people!start!thinking!of!themselves!in!terms!of!subjects!who! need!to!invest!in!and!prove!their!employability,!they!become!extremely!precarious!and!dependent!on! the! particular! employer’s! desires! and! demands! as! well! as! on! those! of! the! larger! market.! The! counterfactual!to!this!situation!would!be!the!existence!of!collective!power!of!negotiation!of!the!workers,! that!would!set!the!contractual!boundaries,!and!that!would!be!active!and!powerful!in!watching!over!their!

15! !

! ! observance!in!practice.!This!latter!option!lacks!completely!from!the!imaginary!of!the!interviewees,!who! have! fully! internalized! the! individual! responsibility! for! their! lives,! leaving! employers! and! the! state! unchallenged.!!

Final$discussion$ I! have! suggested! above! that! the! people! interviewed! understand! themselves! as! subjects! that! are! expected!and!desire!to!be!employable.!Employability!as!a!mode!of!being!in!the!labor!market!has!very! clear! implications! for! the! individualization! of! risk! and! responsibility! shifting! it! towards! the! worker,! relieving!the!employer!and!the!state.!The!effect!is,!as!I!tried!to!demonstrate!above,!precariousness!at!all! levels!of!the!labor!market,!irrespective!of!skills!and!financial!incentives.!The!disappearance!of!collective! bargaining! powers! of! workers! is! a! crucial! consequence! of! the! expansion! of! the! new! logic! in! which! employers!and!employees!are!linked!and!is!one!of!the!main!factors!bringing!the!current!individualized! risks!and!individual!precariousness.! !At!the!moment!of!interviewing!them,!they!were!rather!successful!in!securing!a!job!they!are!relatively! satisfied! with! and! did! not! have! many! spells! of! unemployment.! They! have! salaries! that! allow! them! to! have! a! lifestyle! that! they! are! content! with! in! most! cases,! especially! the! ITs.! And! they! are! certainly! looking! towards! a! better! future,! constantly! thinking! that! they! add! to! its! security! and! degree! of! satisfaction!the!more!experience!they!gather!and!with!every!new!skill!they!acquire.!Is!it,!then,!possible! to!say!that!the!discourse!of!employability!is!indeed!unfair!only!to!some!categories!of!the!disadvantaged,! while!it!actually!pays!off!for!!the!highly(skilled!working!in!the!domains!that!are!well!off,!!and!who!have! internalized! the! “new! psychological! contract”,! and! are! actively! engaged! in! preserving! their! own! security,?!Is!the!problem!with!employability!the!fact!that!it!yields!good!results!for!only!some!fortunate! categories?! My! argument! in! this! paper! is! that! employability,! as! the! device! through! which! the! responsibility! of! security! is! shifted! from! the! employer! and! the! state! towards! the! individual! results! in! precariousness!for!all,!even!for!the!most!fortunate!one.!!

Having!said!that,!I!do!not!wish!to!imply!that!the!type!of!precariousness!which!characterizes!the!category! of! subjects! I! have! interviewed! and! that! I! described! above! is! equally! severe! as! the! type! of! absolute! precariousness! to! which! unskilled,! unemployed,! marginalized! categories! of! workers! are! subjected! to.!

The!reason!why!I!believe!it!is!important!to!unveil!the!precariousness!of!the!“privileged”!is!a!political!one,! with!important!implications!for!policy!critique.!The!argument!used!by!the!promoters!of!employability!as!

16! !

! ! the!solution!to!employment!problems!is!that!by!extending!the!access!to!employability!schemes!to!those! previously! excluded,! their! problem! would! be! solved.! In! this! popular! line! of! thought! employability! is! problematic!because!it!is!not!available!to!all,!but!if!policy!were!to!be!shifted!in!such!way!as!to!include! everyone,!it!would!mean!the!solution!to!solving!the!tensions!of!contemporary!capitalism!(REFERENCE).!

The!traces!of!this!view!are!easily!visible!in!the!emergence!of!an!increasingly!high!number!of!programs! aimed!at!professional!reconversion!of!the!people!with!lower!degrees!of!education,!which!are!viewed!as! the!solution!for!unemployment.!!

My!argument!is!that!we!do!not!need!employability!made!available!to!more!and!more!people,!but!we! need!a!radical!rethinking!of!the!relationship!between!production!and!livelihood!if!our!goal!is!to!decrease! the!level!of!precariousness.!The!current!global!capitalism!produces!precariousness!for!everyone!except! the!very!few!at!the!very!top,!whose!main!asset!is!not!their!employability,!but!their!ownership!of!global! means!of!production!and!their!capacity!enabled!by!the!political!configurations!to!exploit!the!differences! in!the!global!regulation!of!labor!and!in!the!different!situation!of!the!fields!of!reproduction!in!order!to! make! profit.! While! out! of! those! who! are! left! with! selling! their! labor! force! and! become! increasingly! employable,! some! succeed! in! being! partially! on! the! winning! side! is! true,! it! is! due! to! particular! configurations!that!have!no!security!embedded!in!themselves.!And!this!is!frail!and!temporary!soliution,! as!the!economic!crisis!has!demonstrated!in!a!number!of!fields.!

The! logical! step! if! we! are! interested! in! unveiling! the! negative! potentialities! of! the! employability! discourse! and! practice! and! of! the! contemporary! accents! of! exploitation! is! to! make! more! visible! the! suffering! of! those! whose! livelihoods! are! most! seriously! threatened.! While! I! fully! endorse! the! urgency! and! importance! of! this,! I! believe! it! is! crucial! not! to! fall! into! the! trap! of! indexing! the! situation! of! the! “middle!classes”!as!the!ones!described!in!this!article!to!the!“fortunate!exception”!in!relation!to!which! employability!actually!fulfills!its!promises.!I!believe!that!the!more!meaningful!political!move!is!to!make! visible!the!commonalities!and!the!equivalence!of!the!situation!in!which!all!the!people!who!belong!to!the! working!class!(i.e.!those!whose!livelihood!depends!upon!them!selling!their!work!power)!are!trapped.!!

Through! the! middle! classes,! employability! creates! precariousness! on! two! levels.! The! first! level! is! that! documented!so!far!in!the!paper,!in!which!people!with!a!relatively!good!livelihood!are!not!in!the!position! to!make!claims!of!security!to!anyone!than!themselves!or!their!networks!of!support,!because!both!the! employers,!the!state!and!other!regulatory!political!entities!are!absolved!from!this!responsibility,!making! them!vulnerable!on!the!one!hand!to!the!particular!situation!of!the!employers,!and,!on!the!other!hand,! to! the! degree! to! which! the! locality! in! which! they! live! (or! the! localities! to! which! they! can! move)! are!

17! !

! ! successful!in!attracting!and!keeping!as!a!fix!the!global!fluxes!of!capital.!Fluxes!which!are!free!to!move,! and!to!whose!freedom!national!and!global!regulations!contribute!increasingly.!!

The!other!level!is!that!on!which!the!actors!are!invited!to!think!only!in!individual!terms!and!strategies,! that! are! subjected! to! the! hardships! of! the! market! and! therefore! believe! that! this! is! the! fair! way! to! regulate!activities.!This!turns!them!with!their!back!on!“the!others”,!those!unsuccessful,!to!whom!they! can!only!imagine!that!if!they!extended!the!same!logic,!it!should!work.!They!become!apolitical,!or!difficult! to!politicize!because!the!system!invites!an!othering!into!“those!employable!and!successful”!and!those! “unemployable”,! making! their! commonalities! invisible.! Because! they! do! not! feel! entitled! to! make! any! claims!from!their!employers!or!from!the!state,!and!at!the!same!time!they!do!succeed!in!making!a!decent! livelihood! due! to! their! privileged! position! (and! to! the! temporary! good! positioning! of! the! city,! for! instance).!

The!middle!classes!are!active!in!sustaining!employability.!Five!of!the!interviewees!that!currently!work!as!

HR!have!started!talking!about!the!ways!in!which!they!want!to!contribute!to!the!livelihood!of!the!new! generations,! to! share! their! knowledge! and! their! skills.! Unfortunately,! they! way! they! think! about! it! further! reinforces! the! logic! of! employability.! This! has! been! signaled! also! by! an! interpretation! of! the! demands!made!by!one!of!the!radical!social!movements!of!our!times,!the!student!movements.!Which,! although! anti(capitalist! in! nature,! actually! demanded! more! employability! (Berglund,! 2013,!

Chertkovskaya!,!2013,!Vesterberg,!2013,!de!Sá!Mello!da!Costa!and!Saraiva,!2012,!Cremin,!2010).!

This! paper! is! intended! as! a! contribution! to! the! increasingly! significant! body! of! sharp! critical! literature! pointing! at! the! various! ways! in! which! the! new! tool! for! disciplining! the! global! labor! force! is! negatively! effecting!it.!It!is!a!seductive!vision!that!it!proposes,!because!it!offers!people!the!legitimacy!of!thinking!of! themselves! as! subjects,! whose! satisfaction,! growth! and! betterment! matters.! Boltanski! and! Chiappelo! have! brilliantly! shown! the! process! of! hijacking! the! critical! terms! of! autonomy,! creativity! and! personal! growth! and! making! them! the! core! of! the! way! in! which! firms! present! themselves! to! their! employees.!

While!it!makes!people!constantly!live!with!the!failure!of!the!incomplete!satisfaction!of!a!desire!that!it! keeps! fueling! (Cremin,! 2010),! it! also! expropriates! them! from! the! capacity! to! think! in! common! and! to! create! alliances! with! those! with! whom! they! share! precariousness,! but! the! commonality! is! rendered! invisible.!!

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