Just Work

With the importance of appreciating how workers talk about and view their jobs including their employment milieu, and any changes to these over time, this chapter will briefly explore the major developments in the world of work as highlighted by previous scholars. In so doing, this will allow us to better locate and understand the lived experiences and narrative identities (see Foster 2012) of those who stories are included in this book.

The narratives in this chapter perhaps demonstrate the greatest variety in terms of work presented in this book. Included are the growers — those who produce items of need; those who make and repair; and those who transport. In this chapter we cover the spectrum of tangible work since the taming of the land and time (the farmers and the horolo-gist) to new occupations (software engineer). The occupations depicted represent both the rise of new kinds of work and the decline of some others. We have included two similar jobs (that of farming), yet each offers a unique insight into the world of agriculture and its associated challenges and stresses.

The five narratives presented in this chapter represent occupations associated with retail, hospitality, image creation and management. It is within these occupations that we found our youngest workers in general. What these jobs have in common are immediacy, unpredictability, skills and expertise around sales, customer interaction and service, the presentation of self, and the management of emotion and aesthetics. As highlighted by the narratives, serving and selling work can often be the most meaningful and rewarding, but at times also the most frustrating.

One of the growth areas of the economy has been in personal and other services associated with helping individuals and communities. It is also an area where women employed outnumber men. Included in this chapter are narratives from a nurse, a business systems manager, a public servant, a training and development manager, a doctor, a disaster recovery coordinator, a migration agent and a human resources director. Some of the stories represent long-established jobs, but in relatively new sectors of the economy (such as aged care), while others are working in emerging occupations. What all these jobs have in common is that they embody some form of helping, from assisting people directly through their personal, developmental and health-related needs through to helping with organisational processes and procedures to ensure the smooth and efficient conduct of business. Other forms of helping in this chapter include looking after the public interest and facilitating the transition of labour from one country to another.

A number of people in the labour market undertake roles that might be best described as protection work. Some of these jobs have evolved to reflect developments in technology and a concern for personal well-being. Included in the four narratives are police and security work, or those traditionally charged with protecting people and property. Also included is a financial planner entrusted with the protection of the wealth and financial wellbeing of individuals and their families, and a chauffeur engaged in protecting the personal safety and secrets of politicians and dignitaries. In these occupations elements of service, servitude, discretion and demeanour are as important as the more obvious aspects of their roles.

In this chapter we have a playwright (representing a long and honourable tradition of work across history), a marketing manager, production manager and children’s entertainer working within the opportunities afforded by recent developments in information and communication technologies. All four stories are broadly influenced by developments in technology as the medium for the production and/or promotion of their jobs. Work at informing and entertaining others affords opportunities for self-employment, personal expression and creativity. Indeed, three of the individuals presented in this chapter work for themselves in addition to having another paid occupation. These choices are influenced by the need for economic security. Informing and entertaining can therefore be risky work. Three of the narratives discuss the fear of taking the leap into the unknown and the uncertainty of managing one’s own business. For others there is risk in the presentation of oneself and the scrutiny of public critique.

As was highlighted in the Introduction our objectives for this book were to remember and showcase the significance of paid work as experienced by those who participate in it, and continue in the tradition established by Studs Terkel in Working. It is significant, too, that our contribution deliberately appears 40 years after the publication of his book. This is to both celebrate the experience of work and to identify changes that may have occurred in employment since Working appeared in the early 1970s. A number of writers have similarly argued for an engaged approach to studies of work and organisation (Barley and Kunda 2001). For an activity that consumes much of one’s life, work is perhaps taken for granted and insufficiently analysed and questioned as people go about their daily business. Just Work reminds us of the diverse and complex interpretations of employment in a contemporary developed market economy, and points to the extraordinariness of ordinary people and their work. Despite this diversity, we argue that just and fair treatment at, and of, work are highly desirable qualities — as indicated by our participants’ stories.