The 2008-2009 global economic downturn has been labelled the ‘Great Recession’ (Eurofound, 2011c). This has had a powerful impact on jobs and on the labour market and it is considered to be the “deepest and most widespread
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recession since the end of the Second World War in 1945.” In many EU states unemployment rates were up and nearly 25 million people were unemployed by April 2012 (Eurostat, 2012b). During the recession, part-time work increased and from 2009 onwards most of the jobs created were of a temporary nature and tended to be in lower paying jobs (Eurofound, 2011c). In the case of men, the majority of those working part-time did so due to a lack of full time jobs (Broughton, 2011).
As expected, during the economic crisis, in many EU states attention has focused on how to avoid job losses rather than on the quality of work. For example in 2011, workers in Malta’s largest private employer organisation which operates in the manufacturing side of the ICT Sector accepted a pay cut in order to safeguard their jobs. This was done with the blessing of their union (Caruana & Borg, 2011). As clients’ budgets decline, some researchers are assuming that cost-cutting will be used by employers in the ICT sector in Malta as a way to win larger contracts (Malta Employers Association, 2009). Could this mean more pressure on workers to do more with less? And what are the implications for work-life integration when workers have to cope with these additional work related demands?
In spite of the recession, across the EU, on paper there are indications that the number of hours worked per week have on average continued to decrease and stabilise when compared with the previous two decades. However, in practice this may not be happening everywhere (Eurofound, 2011). For example whilst in the EU 27, the average collectively agreed normal annual working time in
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2010, was of 38 hours, that of the new members states like Malta, was higher at 39.7 hours (Eurofound, 2011b). There could also be marked discrepancies between declared and the actual hours worked. For example in the UK, workers managed to clock in 2 billion hours of unpaid overtime last year. These amount to the equivalent of one million extra full-time jobs (Coote, Franklin & Simms, 2010). One of the reason for this discrepancy could be due to the economic crisis which adds on more pressure on the workers who in order to protect their jobs, tend to work harder and may feel obliged to do more with less (Lewis, Brannen & Nilsen, 2009; Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2010b). The intensification of work adds force to assumptions about ideal worker values (Van Echtelt, Glebbeek, & Lindenberg, 2006).
The recession is about the survival of the fittest and organisations are likely to become more mean and lean in difficult times. In such a scenario, demands for better working conditions are likely to be viewed as being in conflict with the needs of the business. Such assumptions are likely to intensity and worsen work-life related conflicts, and reinforce the Single Agenda logic. Research from across the globe suggests that because employees are feeling the pressure, large numbers are hoping for a better work-life balance in the future and some may even contemplate going into self-employment in order to do so (Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2010b). This claim is confirmed by American research on the retention of workers, which shows that earnings and benefits have a 2% impact on job satisfaction. On the other hand, job quality and support at the workplace (which includes work-life integration) have a combined 70% impact (Family and Work Institute, 2011). Closer to home, Maltese
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workers in the ICT sector have consistently chosen flexible working hours, over a good financial bonus, as the most popular incentive in the last years (Castille Resources, 2008, Hughes, 2010). However, indicating a preference for flexible working hours does not automatically imply that workers will be able to integrate work and life. In between the wish to do so and actually being in a position to do so, cultural, sectoral and economic factors interplay with complex issues related to gender and work.
Conclusion
In this chapter, I have examined various elements that built up the context of this study. I opened this chapter by showing that the Maltese labour market is still largely organised around traditional gender roles, where men work full-time and the majority of women drift in-and-out of the labour market around the birth of their children in a bid to combine family and paid work. Here I used various studies to show how the gendered labour market is being sustained by a number of ideological values that do not seem to challenge ideal worker myths. I also pointed to a number of structural deficits (limited childcare, short school opening hours, long school holidays) which make it very difficult for working parents (but especially to mothers) to combine family with work. All these factors seem to sustain traditional gendered roles and gendered choices.
After looking at the factors which interplay with gender and work at the macro layer of context, I focused on the ICT sector with its fast paced work and
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frequent deadlines. Here I showed that this sector is not gender neutral and that men unencumbered by family responsibilities, often willingly work long hours for career advancement. I argued that the small cohort of women who manage to remain in the ICT industry, normally do so by selecting certain roles and by avoiding others which conflict with their parenting roles. I ended this section by focusing on the economic crisis which is leading to work intensification. This may exacerbate assumptions about work-life conflict and reinforce the Single Agenda logic of work and life in conflict mode.
Throughout this review, I raised a number of questions to which we have no clear replies till now. These will be addressed through this research which aims to look at how gendered workplace assumptions around ideal worker values are manifested and reinforced in the Maltese and ICT Context. Furthermore, I will explore the potential for Action Research to challenge the gendered order of work in the case study organisation. These aims will be fulfilled by asking the following questions:
1. How is the ideal worker defined in a specific male dominated company which operates in a traditional national gendered context?
2. How are ideal worker assumptions manifested and reinforced in practice?
3. How can men integrate paid work with their personal lives without being punished or labelled negatively for doing so?
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4. What is the potential for Dual Agenda change at Tech Co.?
5. What are the barriers to change at the organisational level and at the individual level?
6. How can the findings inform theory and practice?
I will discuss these questions in more detail in the next chapter on the Methods and Methodology.
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