Crafting professional identities at the bottom of the knowledge economy a critical analysis of managerial discourses

ABSTRACT

In the context of labour arbitrage, Romania became home to an expanding nearshoring business service sector. Many graduates work in ‘call centres’: a generic term for various types of customer-oriented services associated with different employment regimes and company structures. This research examines the discursive construction of compliance to precarious work, largely centred on managerial perspectives. Based on in-depth interviews with managers, HR staff, call-centre operators and through the thematic analysis of managerial outlets and career events, the paper unpacks several mechanisms, metaphors, and symbols that maintain young people’s adherence to the demands of work. It is argued that the repertoire of neo-liberal tropes (authenticity, personal development, growth) creates legitimacy for an (arguably) precarious sector in an emerging economy, and ultimately crafts individual­ized working narratives. The paper suggests that young employees appropriate the related structures and the master narratives, whilst lacking a solid repertoire to critically engage with them.

KEYWORDS:

• Knowledge economy
• business technology
• call centres
• young people
• Romania

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For convenience, the paper uses the terms ‘call centres’ and ‘customer support services’ interchangeably.

2 According to the EC (NACE Rev.2), the business service sector (BSS) includes technical services, computer services and other professional services (legal, accounting, consultancy, marketing, etc).

3 Each year, around 130,000 young people finish university (BA and MA level), with 27% graduating in business, administration and law (INS, 2023).

4 One major company reported a 400% yearly increase in the number of employees as of 2020, with further growth being expected across the industry.

5 This includes – among others – financial services, business activities, trade, retail, restaurants, and IT.

6 The new technologies that are involved promote the use of automatic indicators, allow for remote control, and reduce the need for supervisory roles.

7 Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is based on portfolios of clients served. Shared Service Centres (SSCs) are specialized units within large companies located abroad.

8 Informed consent was secured from all participants, and all data was anonymised.

9 Although graduates with foreign-language degrees are desirable, many come from faculties of political science, European studies, administrative studies, geography, media studies, etc.

10 Approximately fewer than 5% of those aged 25–29 years old work on a part-time basis (Eurostat, 2019).

11 Higher than the typical salary of a secondary school teacher.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii: [Grant Number PN-III-P4-PCE2021-0366.].

Notes on contributors

Maria-Carmen Pantea

Maria-Carmen Pantea is a Professor in Sociology (UBB, Romania) and Member of the Advisory group of the Pool of European Youth Researchers co-ordinated by the EU – Council of Europe youth partnership. Member of the European Commission Expert Group on Quality Investment in Education and Training (2021-2022). One of the two researchers contracted to support the EU Youth Dialogue as part of the German and the Portuguese EU Council Presidency (2020-2021). PI for three research projects on youth and work. Research interests in school-to-work transition and youth studies. Author of Precarity and Vocational Education and Training. Craftsmanship and Employability in Romania (Palgrave, 2019). MA with Merit in Gender Studies (CEU), MSc in Evidence-Based Social Interventions (Oxford University), PhD in Sociology (UBB).