Work that puts the individual at the centre. That is how a large part of the population would like it to be. Where the individual dimension takes precedence over the collective one. Or, as one might have said in the past, over ‘class’. On closer inspection, this represents a shift in perspective or, perhaps, an enrichment: because the one (the individual) could coexist with the other (the collective). The anniversary of 1 May, dedicated to commemorating the struggles to secure workers’ rights, should be an opportunity for reflection to understand the profound changes underlying one of the most important aspects of people’s lives. Work today is a crossroads of transformations and, at the same time, of contradictions. These changes have affected the way we work, the organisation of businesses and professional profiles. All this has had an impact on the social structure of the workforce. The traditional homogeneous classes (manual workers, white-collar workers) have been replaced by a multitude of professional groups too numerous to list, which are internally fragmented and difficult to represent. But the metamorphosis of work does not end there – quite the contrary.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is beginning to make its impact felt, and not just within the manufacturing sector. The digitisation of workplaces and human-machine interaction (involving machine learning) are radically transforming the tasks and skills required. A new horizon is opening up for work – or, rather, for jobs. Taken together, these factors make its future an interesting, yet risky, area for experimentation. This is because it raises the issue of a potential divide between inclusion and exclusion from the opportunity to achieve social integration through work. And this is where the contradictions arise. Many young people enter the labour market characterised by constant interruptions and resets, taking on underpaid jobs that prevent them from realising their life plans. Others still decide to seek their fortune abroad. Opportunities for them appear to be dwindling compared with previous generations, and this is generating widespread social anxiety.
The issue is that the drive to make the labour market more flexible has not been matched by a comparable commitment to reform in the area of active labour market policies, which would have acted as a counterbalance. And all the problems arising from the mismatch between supply and demand – rather than from unemployment itself – fall exclusively on households and individuals. Within a context so rich in both opportunities and risks, however, attitudes towards work are characterised by one predominant dimension: subjectivity, and a focus on the centrality of the individual. This is the main finding of the latest survey by Community Media Research and signals a profound cultural transformation.
The meaning that the majority of Italians attribute to work centres on three aspects: personal fulfilment (80.7 per cent), autonomy (79.0 per cent) and professional development (78.8 per cent). These are all expressive elements that point to a concept of work centred on fulfilment (not only financial – which is important but not the only factor), where people can find fulfilment of their aspirations. It is about being able to experience responsibility and self-determination. This is based on the view that work must be increasingly linked to a path of professional development, capable of ensuring people’s future employability. These are widespread factors, as the figures show, but they are emphasised most strongly by women, young people, the self-employed and those living in the north-east of the country. Conversely, a view of work as rigidity (17.1 per cent), subordination (16.5 per cent) or a burden (14.5 per cent) is held by a small minority, particularly amongst those in manual labour. The impact of a self-fulfilling perspective on work can also be seen from another angle. Assuming they had a choice, 58.4 per cent would prefer a working life offering prospects for professional growth and salary increases, even if the job were less secure, rather than a secure job with no prospects for career progression (41.6 per cent). Where conditions allow, people favour a job that offers opportunities to develop their skills, particularly amongst the younger generations and those with higher educational qualifications. These factors help to explain the selective attitudes of young people towards certain job opportunities, which are presented as employment prospects but are perceived as lacking in prospects. In this sense, work has become a choice rather than a necessity. However, this widely shared expectation of being able to fulfil oneself at work is counterbalanced by a problematic reality. It is precisely the younger generations (22.1 per cent), women (23.0 per cent) and adults over 50 (25.1 per cent) who are considered the groups most disadvantaged in the labour market. Difficulties in entering the labour market, pay inequalities and the dismissal of older workers are the phenomena giving rise to widespread concern. These are experiences that are perceived and sometimes directly endured, fuelling widespread social unease.
Transformations and contradictions follow one another and intertwine in the work, but find a common denominator in the central role assigned to the individual – a role that has shifted the centre of gravity from the collective to the subjective sphere, undermining the traditional foundations of solidarity. On the occasion of 1 May (a commemoration not known to everyone: 78.7 per cent know it is Labour Day, but the remaining 21.3 per cent associate it with other categories), we need to reflect on how to find new balances, new rights and duties along the inclusion/exclusion axis: perhaps by exploring forms of ‘solidarity-based subjectivity’.
Daniele Marini
Methodological note
Community Media Research, in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo for La Stampa, is carrying out the LaST (Laboratory on Society and Territory) Survey, which was conducted nationwide from 11 to 15 April 2018 on a representative sample of the population resident in Italy, aged over 18. The methodological aspects and the survey were taken care of by the Questlab company. The total number of respondents was 1,657 (out of 14,426 contacts). The data analysis was reproportioned on the basis of gender, territory, age group, occupational status and educational qualification. The margin of error is +/-2.4%. The survey was carried out with a visual survey through the main social networks and with a random sample that could be reached with the CAWI and CATI systems. Full document on www.agcom.it e www.communitymediaresearch.it
