To Let Go or Step In: How Managers Patch Worker and Client Tensions Arising from the Distribution of Authority in Gig Work Settings | WIP Seminar with Laura Lam

THIS IS A VIRTUAL EVENT

JOIN ZOOM MEETING
Meeting ID: 892 0721 0756
Passcode: 723963

Abstract: The shift toward less hierarchical employment relationships has increased the popularity of independent contractors and gig workers. These relationships emphasize autonomy and flexibility, with decentralized authority extending beyond traditional hierarchical figures (e.g., managers). When organizations adopt these forms of decentralized organizing, research shows that roles, responsibilities, and power dynamics may shift. While some responsibilities have broadened to include a wider range of actors, managers still need to engage in practices that support and oversee the smooth coordination of complex interactions between different parties. I find that managers in gig work settings must balance an inherent tension—decentralized authority for independent work and managerial intervention to maintain relationships—when breaches in understanding of these organizational mandates occur. In my 18-month ethnography of a homecare organization, I demonstrate how managers repair these breaches through patching practices to restore stability in the working relationship between clients and workers.

Bio: Laura Lam is a PhD student at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto where she holds a SSHRC J.A. Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship and she is a 2022-2023 R.F. Harney Graduate Research Fellow. She is a researcher at the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) program in Migration and Integration and her research interest is at the nexus of migration, precarious employment and gender, with a focus on the use of app-based digital labour platforms. She has previously worked in a marketing capacity with various startups and technology accelerators, and currently co-owns an employment-based social enterprise based in Vancouver, The Good Chocolatier.

Our CIRHR Work-In-Progress Seminar series allows members of our community to discuss early-stage research. Future guest speakers include:
 

• October 16, Farzam Boroomand, University of Minnesota, PhD Student (virtual talk)
   
• October 23, Shawn Meikle, CIRHR PhD Student
   
• November 20, Xiner Xu, UofT Economics PhD Student
   
• December 4, Dikla Yogev, CIRHR Post-Doc