Representations of Insecurities and the Quest for Voice Among Information Technology Personnel

Abstract

The quest for voice is a fundamental human yearning in social, political as well as workplace settings, and yet in concrete contexts, there is a concerted stifling of the freedom to speak and the right to be heard. Recent happenings in the information technology firms have drawn attention to the struggle for voice in the context of actions taken by employers in this sector. The objective of this exploration is to decipher the trends underlying employer resistance to unionization in the information technology and software technology sectors and to examine whether the ecosystem of heightened employment insecurity renders mobilization an uphill task for leaders as well as for rank and file personnel. The study concludes that technology itself does not diminish the worker. It is the design of the social relations of employment within the frame of the ‘iron law of alignment’ and ‘deliberative insecurity’ which defines the contextual dynamics which impinges on the quest for voice by software workers. What is evident from this study is that the answer to any violation of human dignity at the workplace is the inevitability of the constitutionally and legally conferred right to collective voice as a counter. Recent developments on this front in the IT sector testify to this conclusion.