Facets of the Precariousness of Women’s Work: Outsourcing and Informal Activity

Due to the exhaustion of the pattern of accumulation, the transformations in contemporary capitalism demonstrate the strengthening of neoliberalism, changes in the organization of work and individuals, especially in relation to women. It is known that flexibilization within the scope of work assumes multiple formulations, either by the new forms of hiring, use of time, remuneration of work, solution of conflicts, or by the way of thinking the organization of time and space of work. With regard to the gender cut in outsourcing and informality, the few studies that have been carried out show a difference between women and men, with women being subjected to a more insecure condition, with higher turnover, lower wages and a major noncompliance with labor rights. In view of the context presented, the objective was to analyze the precariousness of women’s work, in the outsourcing and informal activity instances observed in the work of outsourced school food handlers in the city of Campinas-SP, and in the scope of semi-jewels manufacture in the Municipality of Limeira-SP. These findings are the result of two researches carried out in 2017 by researchers from the FCA/UNICAMP Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Human and Applied Social Sciences. In both surveys it was possible to observe the harsh daily reality of several women who work through outsourced companies (in the case of school food handlers) or in their homes (in the manufacture of semi-jewels). These workers face situations like low pay, intensified work, bullying issues and precarious work environments.