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Deskilling emotional labour: evidence from department store retail

Author

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  • Peter Ikeler

    (SUNY College at Old Westbury, USA)

Abstract

How have the skills of service jobs changed? Have they undergone deskilling, upgrading or some contingent or compensatory development? This study examines these questions as they pertain to frontline sales work in US department stores. It begins by identifying an operational concept of service skill latent across recent debates and then examines it via qualitative comparison of full-line and discount stores in New York City. Based on an evaluative framework akin to that of Blauner, this study’s workplace-level findings suggest that the industry-level succession of full-line stores by discounters has embodied a decline in the complexity and autonomy of salespersons’ emotional labour.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Ikeler, 2016. "Deskilling emotional labour: evidence from department store retail," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(6), pages 966-983, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:30:y:2016:i:6:p:966-983
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017015609031
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sharon C. Bolton, 2009. "Getting to the heart of the emotional labour process: a reply to Brook," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(3), pages 549-560, September.
    2. Irena Grugulis & Steven Vincent, 2009. "Whose skill is it anyway?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(4), pages 597-615, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Godfrey & Joanna Brewis, 2018. "‘Nowhere else sells bliss like this’: Exploring the emotional labour of soldiers at war," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 653-669, November.
    2. Donna Baines & Annabel Dulhunty & Sara Charlesworth, 2022. "Relationship-Based Care Work, Austerity and Aged Care," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 139-155, February.

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