The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour
Based on transcripts provided by 145 engineers working in various information technology organisations in Bangalore, India, the article examines the commoditisation of labour in this sector. In doing so, we specifically want to problematise algorithm-based decision-making embedded in the wider techn...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
McMaster University Library Press
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Global Labour Journal |
| Online Access: | https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/4101 |
| _version_ | 1818900171023450112 |
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| author | Rajalaxmi Kamath Eureka Sarkar |
| author_facet | Rajalaxmi Kamath Eureka Sarkar |
| author_sort | Rajalaxmi Kamath |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Based on transcripts provided by 145 engineers working in various information technology organisations in Bangalore, India, the article examines the commoditisation of labour in this sector. In doing so, we specifically want to problematise algorithm-based decision-making embedded in the wider technology of Integrated Development Environments like Enterprise Resource Planning and its ramifications for business and labour processes. Standardisation and modularisation of tasks have made wide inroads in workers’ lives, resulting in a replication of Taylorist mass-production techniques. In unpeeling the “materiality” behind such a development, we elaborate on how efficiency and profit motives of these firms are turning engineers into numbers on a spreadsheet. We conclude by commenting on the implications of this on labour’s organisation and resistance and the future trajectory of working life. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T19:59:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-681675255b7041d8a7935d394915b2bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1918-6711 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T19:59:37Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | McMaster University Library Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Labour Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-681675255b7041d8a7935d394915b2bd2022-12-21T20:07:43ZengMcMaster University Library PressGlobal Labour Journal1918-67112020-05-0111210.15173/glj.v11i2.4101The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of LabourRajalaxmi Kamath0Eureka SarkarIndian Institute of Management BangaloreBased on transcripts provided by 145 engineers working in various information technology organisations in Bangalore, India, the article examines the commoditisation of labour in this sector. In doing so, we specifically want to problematise algorithm-based decision-making embedded in the wider technology of Integrated Development Environments like Enterprise Resource Planning and its ramifications for business and labour processes. Standardisation and modularisation of tasks have made wide inroads in workers’ lives, resulting in a replication of Taylorist mass-production techniques. In unpeeling the “materiality” behind such a development, we elaborate on how efficiency and profit motives of these firms are turning engineers into numbers on a spreadsheet. We conclude by commenting on the implications of this on labour’s organisation and resistance and the future trajectory of working life.https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/4101 |
| spellingShingle | Rajalaxmi Kamath Eureka Sarkar The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour Global Labour Journal |
| title | The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour |
| title_full | The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour |
| title_fullStr | The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour |
| title_short | The Engineer … No Longer a Person but a Number on an Excel Sheet: Enterprise Resource Planning and Commoditisation of Labour |
| title_sort | engineer no longer a person but a number on an excel sheet enterprise resource planning and commoditisation of labour |
| url | https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/4101 |
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