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The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone

SoRn Gaia Salvatore
SoRn Gaia Salvatore

This document analyzes the exploitation of white collar workers in Bangkok through their use of smartphones for work purposes. It finds that workers have enthusiastically adopted smartphones, which employers then use to contact workers outside of regular hours, extracting unpaid labor and surplus value. While smartphones increase productivity and profits for companies, most employers do not help cover workers' smartphone costs. The technology also blurs work-life boundaries and prompts self-exploitation as workers feel pressure to be constantly available. In conclusion, patterns of labor exploitation are adapting to new technologies like smartphones.

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THE EXPLOITATION OF WHITE COLLAR WORKERS VIA SMARTPHONE CASE STUDY: WHITE COLLAR WORKERS IN BANGKOK SORN MANAWANITCHAROEN Political Economy Department, Faculty of Economics Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Email: sorn.manawa@gmail.com _____________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: This research aims to comprehend the concepts, behaviors and patterns of white collar worker exploitation occurred in Bangkok through smartphone using in the work context, along with its effects on white collar workers lives. The collected data shows the respondents have enthusiastically embraced smartphones to reflect their status quo. Its advanced performance facilitates work to reach the respondents anytime, which mostly happens at the unpaid time beyond office hours and consequently creates the surplus value for employers to exploit. Even though smartphones help increase profit and productivity for the capitalist companies, more than 90% of employers have shown no interest to share the expenses incurred from smartphone using. Moreover, smartphones drive the respondents to exploit themselves as a result of the conflict of interest to showcase their hi-end smartphones, which prompts the respondents to work beyond office hours on their own volition. Also, the positive effects from smartphone using in the work context are all in employers favor. Contrastingly, its negative effects such as bad quality of life and work-life imbalance only inflict on employees. In conclusion, the exploitation that has been clearly inflicted on the blue collar workers, is now easily applied to the white collar workers as well thanks to the productiveness of smartphone technology. Keywords: Exploitation, White collar workers, Smartphone 1. INTRODUCTION The competitive nature of capitalism compels capitalists to never cease to search for as much as possible surplus value in order to ensure their maximized profit which brings them the advantage in the market. The more surplus value they appropriate, the more chance for them to be steps ahead of their competitors. The surplus value equals the unpaid labor created by workers or employees in excess of their own labor cost. This free of charge value will invariably be extracted and exploited by the capitalists as long as capitalism exists (Emery,2008 : 68) since its the fundamental factor to keep capitalists afloat, survive their competitive games and maintain their status quo as the dominant class. Today in this digitized era, where the white collar workers or company employers have the key productive role creating surplus value for capitalists, is no exception for exploitation. This is also the era the communication technology especially smartphone drastically changes where and when we work by releasing us from the boundary of space and time and facilitating the work outside the office. Is capitalism exploitation technologically dynamic? Does it adapt its patterns to extract the free labor of employees in the search for relative surplus value in the time smartphone becomes the cant- live-without gadget for majority of white collar workers? Regarding these questions, this research seeks to gain an understanding of concepts, patterns and behaviors related to labor exploitation both in general and the one benefiting from the smartphone technology, including the effects of smartphone on white collar workers ways of life and the factors that drive them to accept the relative exploitation. In addition, this research aims to collect the data on Bangkok white collar workers behaviors and attitudes towards smartphone using in the context of work, in order to examine whether theres correlation between exploitation and smartphone usage. 2. DETAILS OF PROCEDURES A documentary research seeks to gain generic understanding of the following theories and conceptual frameworks: labor exploitation, behavior and patterns of labor exploitation, smartphones role in labor exploitation procedure, effects of smartphone using on white collar workers lives and the white collar workers motivation for willingly accepting the relative exploitation. A survey was also conducted with 200 white collar workers who own smartphones in Bangkok from November 4 to December 13 2015, through a systematic questionnaire.
The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 2 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The data collected from both documentary research and systematic questionnaire were analyzed and major results are as follows: Graph 1 and 2: Income and Smartphone prices Graph 3 and 4: Smartphone brands and Market share 3.1. The smartphone technology acceptance The respondents have rapidly and enthusiastically embraced the smartphone technology. The respondents from every group of income willingly spent a lot of money to get hold of smartphone and its technology, which reflected their status quo in the society apart from answering their demands in other aspects. Graph 5 : The frequency of smartphone using in the work context Graph 6 : The using of smartphone in the work context beyond office hours 3.2. Smartphone performance and exploitation With the high performance of connectivity, useful applications along with their sleek designs, smartphones help the respondents break the limitation of where and when they work, which offers the leeway for the surplus value exploitation since work can reach them anytime, which mostly happens at unpaid labor time beyond office hours. Graph 7 : The range of smartphone prices and the payers 3.3. Smartphone and employers advantage Even though the white collar workers original intention of buying smartphone is to serve their personal demands, when the smartphone is put to use in the work context, it helps increase the productivity and profits for the capitalist companies or employers. The data evidently shows that more than 90% of employers ignore to share the expenses incurred from the smartphones with the employees.
The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 3 Graph 8 : The smartphone monthly expenses and the payers Therefore, this can be counted that the employers take advantage from what employees invested one of the exploitation patterns. 3.4. Smartphone and self-exploitation Not only smartphone technology causes the imbalance between work life and personal life but also prompts the white collar workers to exploit themselves as a consequence of the conflict of interest to showcase the effectiveness of their advanced hi-end smartphones. This conflict of interest drives the workers to work beyond office hours on their own volition and unquestionably accept this exploitation for the surplus value. Graph 9 : Acceptance/Turning down the work contact beyond office hours Table1: The articulation of words in graph 9 3.5. The effects of smartphone using on employees lives The positive effects that appear from smartphone using in the work context are all in employers favor, creating productivity and profits. On the contrary, the negative effects of smartphone using on employees quality of life and work-life balance only inflict on employees. Graph 10 : The positive effects of smartphone on work related usage Table2: The articulation of words in graph 10 and 11 contact It helps make contact and work information sharing with colleagues quicker and easier. everywhere It helps us to be ready to work everywhere every time. enhance It helps enhance closer relationship among colleagues. commitment It facilitates the commitment to work for the company. significant It let us be reachable for work all the time, which shows that we are significant someone to the company. get ahead It offers the opportunity to get ahead in career path. checking It brings about the habit of constantly checking the smartphone for work related messages every time we can. worry It makes us worry and think about work all the time. never know It makes us stressed out because we will never know where and when we will be contacted to work. lesser It makes us have to be available for work all the time that our personal time becomes lesser. the same It prolongs working hours and adds on workloads, but salary remains the same. focus It makes us focus only whats happening on the smartphones in our hands, so we neglect to notice or consider whats happening around us. blur It blurs the boundary between work life and personal life. Urgent It may be urgent and really necessary. turn it on I always turn the smartphone and internet on to be reachable all the time. responsibility Its the normal practice to be responsible. reluctant Reluctant to accept the work related contact. not accept I will not accept the work related contact.
The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 4 Graph 11 : The negative effects on smartphone on work related usage 3.6. White collar is the new blue collar The exploitation that has been clearly inflicted on the blue collar workers, is now easily applied itself to impose on the white collar workers as well thanks to the productiveness of smartphone technology .This fact reaffirms the capitalism ontology that the exploitation of surplus value from workers will go on and on as long as capitalism exists (Emery,2008 : 68). CONCLUSIONS Surplus value has always been the holy grail for every capitalist throughout time since Karl Marx days in the 19th century up until the digitized era today, where white collar workers become the key workforce and smartphones they possess are important factor of production. Thats why the exploitation of the surplus value has to be technologically dynamic. Apart from increasing the profits and productivity for capitalists, the technologies in smartphones also help intensify the exploitation rate by provoking white collar workers to exploit themselves. Moreover, they also present the capitalists the golden opportunity to reap the benefits from what employees have invested without sowing anything. Capitalists simply have to ensure that their employees work during the unpaid time as much as possible. ACKNOLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Watcharapong Ratisukpimol for his valuable advice and support. I would also love to thank my parents for their unlimited support and encouragement. Last but not least, I could not come this far on the academic road without all the political economy professors at faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, who gave me the great knowledge and broader point of view. REFERENCES 1. Costas and Grey).2013(,Outsourcing your life : Exploitation and exploration in the 4-hour workweek, in Managing Human Resources by Exploiting and Exploring Peoples Potentials, Bingley :Emerald Group Publishing Limited:221-244. 2. Emery E) .2008(, Reflections on Empire, Cambridge : Polity Press. 3. Fleming P).2013(,Some might call it workbut we dont :Exploitation and the emergence of free work capitalism, in Managing Human Resources by Exploiting and Exploring Peoples Potentials, Bingley :Emerald Group Publishing Limited:105-125. 4. Fleming and Spicer) .2004(, You Can Checkout Anytime, but You Can Never Leave :Spatial Boundaries in a High Commitment Organization, in Human Relations, Vol.57)1 :(80-85. 5. Gregg M) .2011(,Works Intimacy,Cambridge :Polity Press. 6. Hafner K).2000(, March 30.For the well connected, all the worlds an office.New York Times. 7. Harvey D) .2006(, The Limits to Capital,New York : Verso. 8. Islam et al).2011(, A Study on Generation Y Behaviours at Workplace in Penang, in Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5)11 :(1802- 1812. 9. Mills C.W) .1951(, White collar :The American middle class,Scranton :Oxford University Press. 10. Muhr et al).2013(,Workload, Aspiration, and Fun : Problems of Balancing Self-Exploitation and Self- Exploration in Work Life, in Managing Human Resources by Exploiting and Exploring Peoples Potentials, Bingley :Emerald Group Publishing Limited:193-217. 11. Ouye J.A) .2011(,Five Trends that Are Dramatically Changing Work and the Workplace:.Knoll Workplace Research 12. Patsiaouras G. (2010), Rethinking Veblens contribution to Consumer Research: a phenomenological enquiry into the perception of status consumption by middle-income British consumers, Leicester: School of Management, University of Leicester. 13. Resnick S) .1999(,Exploitation and surplus value, in Encyclopedia of Political Economy, Vol.1 : 311- 313. 14. Spencer A.D) .2009(, The Political Economy of Work,Oxon :Routledge. 15. Wattana V. (2001), Maslow and management, Bangkok: Seudee Co.,Ltd. ONLINE: 16. Android.Explore great phones running the latest version of Android ]Online[, February 15,2015 . Retrieved from http//:www.android.com/versions 17. Apple.Great things are happening in enterprise ]Online[, February 15,2015 .Retrieved from http//:www.apple.com/iphone/business 18. Dailymail .How smartphones and tablets are adding TWO HOURS to our working day] Online[, March 6, .2014 Retrieved from http//:www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article- /2225325Smartphones-tablets-add-TWO-HOURS- working-day.html 19. Kruegerjan A. B. Doctoral Thesis Says Rich People Spend More on Conspicuous Things [Online], November 3, 2014. Retrieved from
The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 5 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/business/doctoral- thesis-says-rich-people-spend-more-on-conspicuous- things.html?_r=0 20. Los Angeles Times Editorial Change white-collar threshold on OT pay ]Online[, November 3,2014 . Retrieved from http//:m.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/2758406 61.html 21. Newman K .White collar workers are exploited too ]Online[, October 3,2014 .Retrieved from http//:www.salon.com/2013/05/04/joan_rivers_e_fashio n_police_staff_on_strike_partner/ 22. Pichai S .Introducing Chrome for Android ]Online[, February 15,2015.Retrieved from http//:officialadnroid.blogspot.com/2012/02/introducing- chrome-for-android.html 23. T-Mobile press release.T-Moblie Unveils the T-Mobile G1-the First Phone Powered by Android ]Online[, February 15,2015 .Retrieved from http//:www.tmobile.com/company/PressReleases_Articl e.aspx?assetName=Prs 24. Verge Staff .iOS :A visual history ]Online[, February 15,2015 .Retrieved from http//:www.theverge.com/2011/12/13/2612736/ios- history-iphone-ipad 束束束

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The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone

  • 1. THE EXPLOITATION OF WHITE COLLAR WORKERS VIA SMARTPHONE CASE STUDY: WHITE COLLAR WORKERS IN BANGKOK SORN MANAWANITCHAROEN Political Economy Department, Faculty of Economics Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Email: sorn.manawa@gmail.com _____________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: This research aims to comprehend the concepts, behaviors and patterns of white collar worker exploitation occurred in Bangkok through smartphone using in the work context, along with its effects on white collar workers lives. The collected data shows the respondents have enthusiastically embraced smartphones to reflect their status quo. Its advanced performance facilitates work to reach the respondents anytime, which mostly happens at the unpaid time beyond office hours and consequently creates the surplus value for employers to exploit. Even though smartphones help increase profit and productivity for the capitalist companies, more than 90% of employers have shown no interest to share the expenses incurred from smartphone using. Moreover, smartphones drive the respondents to exploit themselves as a result of the conflict of interest to showcase their hi-end smartphones, which prompts the respondents to work beyond office hours on their own volition. Also, the positive effects from smartphone using in the work context are all in employers favor. Contrastingly, its negative effects such as bad quality of life and work-life imbalance only inflict on employees. In conclusion, the exploitation that has been clearly inflicted on the blue collar workers, is now easily applied to the white collar workers as well thanks to the productiveness of smartphone technology. Keywords: Exploitation, White collar workers, Smartphone 1. INTRODUCTION The competitive nature of capitalism compels capitalists to never cease to search for as much as possible surplus value in order to ensure their maximized profit which brings them the advantage in the market. The more surplus value they appropriate, the more chance for them to be steps ahead of their competitors. The surplus value equals the unpaid labor created by workers or employees in excess of their own labor cost. This free of charge value will invariably be extracted and exploited by the capitalists as long as capitalism exists (Emery,2008 : 68) since its the fundamental factor to keep capitalists afloat, survive their competitive games and maintain their status quo as the dominant class. Today in this digitized era, where the white collar workers or company employers have the key productive role creating surplus value for capitalists, is no exception for exploitation. This is also the era the communication technology especially smartphone drastically changes where and when we work by releasing us from the boundary of space and time and facilitating the work outside the office. Is capitalism exploitation technologically dynamic? Does it adapt its patterns to extract the free labor of employees in the search for relative surplus value in the time smartphone becomes the cant- live-without gadget for majority of white collar workers? Regarding these questions, this research seeks to gain an understanding of concepts, patterns and behaviors related to labor exploitation both in general and the one benefiting from the smartphone technology, including the effects of smartphone on white collar workers ways of life and the factors that drive them to accept the relative exploitation. In addition, this research aims to collect the data on Bangkok white collar workers behaviors and attitudes towards smartphone using in the context of work, in order to examine whether theres correlation between exploitation and smartphone usage. 2. DETAILS OF PROCEDURES A documentary research seeks to gain generic understanding of the following theories and conceptual frameworks: labor exploitation, behavior and patterns of labor exploitation, smartphones role in labor exploitation procedure, effects of smartphone using on white collar workers lives and the white collar workers motivation for willingly accepting the relative exploitation. A survey was also conducted with 200 white collar workers who own smartphones in Bangkok from November 4 to December 13 2015, through a systematic questionnaire.
  • 2. The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 2 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The data collected from both documentary research and systematic questionnaire were analyzed and major results are as follows: Graph 1 and 2: Income and Smartphone prices Graph 3 and 4: Smartphone brands and Market share 3.1. The smartphone technology acceptance The respondents have rapidly and enthusiastically embraced the smartphone technology. The respondents from every group of income willingly spent a lot of money to get hold of smartphone and its technology, which reflected their status quo in the society apart from answering their demands in other aspects. Graph 5 : The frequency of smartphone using in the work context Graph 6 : The using of smartphone in the work context beyond office hours 3.2. Smartphone performance and exploitation With the high performance of connectivity, useful applications along with their sleek designs, smartphones help the respondents break the limitation of where and when they work, which offers the leeway for the surplus value exploitation since work can reach them anytime, which mostly happens at unpaid labor time beyond office hours. Graph 7 : The range of smartphone prices and the payers 3.3. Smartphone and employers advantage Even though the white collar workers original intention of buying smartphone is to serve their personal demands, when the smartphone is put to use in the work context, it helps increase the productivity and profits for the capitalist companies or employers. The data evidently shows that more than 90% of employers ignore to share the expenses incurred from the smartphones with the employees.
  • 3. The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 3 Graph 8 : The smartphone monthly expenses and the payers Therefore, this can be counted that the employers take advantage from what employees invested one of the exploitation patterns. 3.4. Smartphone and self-exploitation Not only smartphone technology causes the imbalance between work life and personal life but also prompts the white collar workers to exploit themselves as a consequence of the conflict of interest to showcase the effectiveness of their advanced hi-end smartphones. This conflict of interest drives the workers to work beyond office hours on their own volition and unquestionably accept this exploitation for the surplus value. Graph 9 : Acceptance/Turning down the work contact beyond office hours Table1: The articulation of words in graph 9 3.5. The effects of smartphone using on employees lives The positive effects that appear from smartphone using in the work context are all in employers favor, creating productivity and profits. On the contrary, the negative effects of smartphone using on employees quality of life and work-life balance only inflict on employees. Graph 10 : The positive effects of smartphone on work related usage Table2: The articulation of words in graph 10 and 11 contact It helps make contact and work information sharing with colleagues quicker and easier. everywhere It helps us to be ready to work everywhere every time. enhance It helps enhance closer relationship among colleagues. commitment It facilitates the commitment to work for the company. significant It let us be reachable for work all the time, which shows that we are significant someone to the company. get ahead It offers the opportunity to get ahead in career path. checking It brings about the habit of constantly checking the smartphone for work related messages every time we can. worry It makes us worry and think about work all the time. never know It makes us stressed out because we will never know where and when we will be contacted to work. lesser It makes us have to be available for work all the time that our personal time becomes lesser. the same It prolongs working hours and adds on workloads, but salary remains the same. focus It makes us focus only whats happening on the smartphones in our hands, so we neglect to notice or consider whats happening around us. blur It blurs the boundary between work life and personal life. Urgent It may be urgent and really necessary. turn it on I always turn the smartphone and internet on to be reachable all the time. responsibility Its the normal practice to be responsible. reluctant Reluctant to accept the work related contact. not accept I will not accept the work related contact.
  • 4. The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 4 Graph 11 : The negative effects on smartphone on work related usage 3.6. White collar is the new blue collar The exploitation that has been clearly inflicted on the blue collar workers, is now easily applied itself to impose on the white collar workers as well thanks to the productiveness of smartphone technology .This fact reaffirms the capitalism ontology that the exploitation of surplus value from workers will go on and on as long as capitalism exists (Emery,2008 : 68). CONCLUSIONS Surplus value has always been the holy grail for every capitalist throughout time since Karl Marx days in the 19th century up until the digitized era today, where white collar workers become the key workforce and smartphones they possess are important factor of production. Thats why the exploitation of the surplus value has to be technologically dynamic. Apart from increasing the profits and productivity for capitalists, the technologies in smartphones also help intensify the exploitation rate by provoking white collar workers to exploit themselves. Moreover, they also present the capitalists the golden opportunity to reap the benefits from what employees have invested without sowing anything. Capitalists simply have to ensure that their employees work during the unpaid time as much as possible. ACKNOLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Watcharapong Ratisukpimol for his valuable advice and support. I would also love to thank my parents for their unlimited support and encouragement. Last but not least, I could not come this far on the academic road without all the political economy professors at faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, who gave me the great knowledge and broader point of view. REFERENCES 1. Costas and Grey).2013(,Outsourcing your life : Exploitation and exploration in the 4-hour workweek, in Managing Human Resources by Exploiting and Exploring Peoples Potentials, Bingley :Emerald Group Publishing Limited:221-244. 2. Emery E) .2008(, Reflections on Empire, Cambridge : Polity Press. 3. Fleming P).2013(,Some might call it workbut we dont :Exploitation and the emergence of free work capitalism, in Managing Human Resources by Exploiting and Exploring Peoples Potentials, Bingley :Emerald Group Publishing Limited:105-125. 4. Fleming and Spicer) .2004(, You Can Checkout Anytime, but You Can Never Leave :Spatial Boundaries in a High Commitment Organization, in Human Relations, Vol.57)1 :(80-85. 5. Gregg M) .2011(,Works Intimacy,Cambridge :Polity Press. 6. Hafner K).2000(, March 30.For the well connected, all the worlds an office.New York Times. 7. Harvey D) .2006(, The Limits to Capital,New York : Verso. 8. Islam et al).2011(, A Study on Generation Y Behaviours at Workplace in Penang, in Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5)11 :(1802- 1812. 9. Mills C.W) .1951(, White collar :The American middle class,Scranton :Oxford University Press. 10. Muhr et al).2013(,Workload, Aspiration, and Fun : Problems of Balancing Self-Exploitation and Self- Exploration in Work Life, in Managing Human Resources by Exploiting and Exploring Peoples Potentials, Bingley :Emerald Group Publishing Limited:193-217. 11. Ouye J.A) .2011(,Five Trends that Are Dramatically Changing Work and the Workplace:.Knoll Workplace Research 12. Patsiaouras G. (2010), Rethinking Veblens contribution to Consumer Research: a phenomenological enquiry into the perception of status consumption by middle-income British consumers, Leicester: School of Management, University of Leicester. 13. Resnick S) .1999(,Exploitation and surplus value, in Encyclopedia of Political Economy, Vol.1 : 311- 313. 14. Spencer A.D) .2009(, The Political Economy of Work,Oxon :Routledge. 15. Wattana V. (2001), Maslow and management, Bangkok: Seudee Co.,Ltd. ONLINE: 16. Android.Explore great phones running the latest version of Android ]Online[, February 15,2015 . Retrieved from http//:www.android.com/versions 17. Apple.Great things are happening in enterprise ]Online[, February 15,2015 .Retrieved from http//:www.apple.com/iphone/business 18. Dailymail .How smartphones and tablets are adding TWO HOURS to our working day] Online[, March 6, .2014 Retrieved from http//:www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article- /2225325Smartphones-tablets-add-TWO-HOURS- working-day.html 19. Kruegerjan A. B. Doctoral Thesis Says Rich People Spend More on Conspicuous Things [Online], November 3, 2014. Retrieved from
  • 5. The exploitation of white collar workers via smartphone. Case study: White collar workers in Bangkok. 5 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/business/doctoral- thesis-says-rich-people-spend-more-on-conspicuous- things.html?_r=0 20. Los Angeles Times Editorial Change white-collar threshold on OT pay ]Online[, November 3,2014 . Retrieved from http//:m.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/2758406 61.html 21. Newman K .White collar workers are exploited too ]Online[, October 3,2014 .Retrieved from http//:www.salon.com/2013/05/04/joan_rivers_e_fashio n_police_staff_on_strike_partner/ 22. Pichai S .Introducing Chrome for Android ]Online[, February 15,2015.Retrieved from http//:officialadnroid.blogspot.com/2012/02/introducing- chrome-for-android.html 23. T-Mobile press release.T-Moblie Unveils the T-Mobile G1-the First Phone Powered by Android ]Online[, February 15,2015 .Retrieved from http//:www.tmobile.com/company/PressReleases_Articl e.aspx?assetName=Prs 24. Verge Staff .iOS :A visual history ]Online[, February 15,2015 .Retrieved from http//:www.theverge.com/2011/12/13/2612736/ios- history-iphone-ipad 束束束