Interaction-as-a-risk: Deconstructing experiences of extreme work in ‘key’ services during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany

Abstract

It has been argued that the extreme working conditions experienced by many interactive workers in ‘key’ services during the Covid-19 pandemic stemmed mainly from a situation of crisis. Using a combination of literature from the debates on interactive (service) work and extreme work, the article aims to deconstruct the various conditions giving rise to extreme work at different analytical levels. The analysis is based on a qualitative cross-sectoral comparative study in three key service sectors (retail, elderly care, and the police) during the pandemic in Germany. The article identifies both characteristics and enabling conditions of extreme work, thereby making two contributions: First, it demonstrates that specific risks are inherent to interactive work due to its very nature (i.e. work-related social interactions); it thus makes a claim for considering ‘interaction-as-a-risk’ as a core characteristic of interactive work. Second, by investigating the role of contexts at multiple analytical levels, it indicates that it was not solely the pandemic that enabled extreme work experiences, as the contributory unfavourable conditions already existed prior to the outbreak of Covid-19. Overall, the article emphasises the general importance of the concept of risk in HRM and employment-related research.