The Politics of Work: Young Employees’ Awareness of Industrial Relations in Romania’s Call Centres

Abstract

The business service sector, of which call centers make up a large share, has emerged as an important driver of growth in central and eastern Europe. This article explores how young employees in call centers in Romania interpret their labor market positioning, how they engage with the structures that shape their working lives, and how they mobilize values to make sense of complex labor processes and industrial relations. Based on in-depth, face-to-face interviews with forty-two call centers operators and twenty-six human resource staff and managers at different levels of seniority, the article suggests that young people exhibit limited geopolitical literacy and are not inclined to contextualize their work within global value chains. Instances of acute awareness of labor relations are the exception, not the norm. Interviewees displayed strong viewpoints, mainly in situations of pronounced power imbalance. The article suggests that the characteristics of call centers limit young employees’ ability to participate in meaningful debate about the labor structures in which they participate. It raises additional questions regarding the circumstances that enable young people to develop their political literacy at work.