A Focused Look at the ICT Sector

ICT is changing the world and its economy in ways which steam power and electricity did in the previous eras (The Linked World, 2011). The sector which is constantly evolving, is relatively young, but has gained a lot of importance in the last two decades. However, it was only in 1998 that OECD member states agreed to define it as a mixture of services and manufacturing industries that “capture, transmit and display data and information electronically.” The ICT sector is very broad and workers should be immediately split into two categories: those working in the manufacturing side of the sector (production of computing/accounting machinery, electronic components, transmitter apparatus, navigating equipment, etc); and those who operate in the services side of the field (OECD, 2002). The conditions of work in the manufacturing and the services side of the business tend to be different. The services side of the industry can be further split into another two categories. The first involves the sales side of the business (sales of computers, peripheral equipment, software, electronic and telecommunications parts and equipment). The second is related to the servicing side provided by knowledge workers. These are the jobs which are closely related to this study and include workers involved in: Hardware Consultancy (Nace:72.1), Software Consultancy (Nace:72.2); Data Processing (Nace:72.3) and Database activities (Nace:72.4). What are the working conditions of knowledge workers involved in this sector? And which values guide work practices in the ICT world?

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3.2.1. Work Practices in the ICT Sector

The ICT sector is often linked to innovation and change, and at least in theory, the services side of the business can offer many possibilities to knowledge- based workers to deviate from the standard 9-to-5 job at the office. Work at the high end of ICT is “regularly seen as the flagship of the new economy and is emblematic for the new working life, as it shows the new employment conditions like flexible work and self–management” (Kelan, 2005 p.15). Whilst this may seem obvious, it does not always happen. In reality, research shows that the sector is often linked to full-time work with long working hours (Valenduc & Vendramin, 2004). Furthermore, apart from their regular work, employees in the ICT sector are often also expected to update their knowledge and skills on a regular basis in order to keep abreast of changes happening in their field (Kelan, 2009; Webster, 2004).

Young, male ICT professionals predominate in this industry across Europe (Eurostat, 2012a; Valenduc & Vendramin, 2004). Largely free from domestic and family commitments and responsibilities, they often willingly work long hours and carry their work into their leisure time. In these organisations, readiness to work long hours and showing the ability to work under pressure indicates a sense of commitment to the job (Valenduc & Vendramin, 2004). Furthermore, where senior managers themselves work very long hours, they send “implicit messages through their organisations that this kind of work is necessary for career advancement” (Valenduc & Vendramin, 2004, p.3).

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Work in the ICT sector is generally project-based and often involves tight deadlines and at times, especially towards the end of the project, it can also entail evening and sometimes weekend work (Griffiths & Moore, 2010; Gill, 2002; Henwood, 1993). However, the long hours culture tends to be linked to specific jobs rather than to all roles within the sector. For example consultants who work directly with clients, tend to face more pressure to work long hours. On the other hand, programmers and research and development staff are less prone to do so (Whitehouse & Preston, 2005). Hence, it is important to distinguish what roles knowledge-based workers occupy, rather than see them as a homogenous group with the same working conditions.

Work in the ICT sector often conjures up images of a solitary, male computer geek writing computer codes or hacking computers (Hapnes, 1996). Research based on case studies across the EU, have shown that the image of the ICT sector and its stereotypes is not always correct (Women and ICT Status Report, 2009). For example, contrary to the idea of working in solitude, ICT workers often work in teams. This must be kept in mind when discussing ideal worker values in that individual work-life related decisions are likely to affect the group and the outcome of the project. Through her research with elite ICT workers in Switzerland, Kelan (2005) found that the image of the ICT worker is changing and apart from core technical skills, knowledge based workers, are also expected to have social and emotional skills which are normally more linked to women. The issue of gender and ICT demands further attention and is discussed in more detail in the next part of this chapter.

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3.2.2. The Gender Link to ICT

Theorists tend to agree that the concept of technology is not gender neutral and that the ICT industry is traditionally associated with masculinity (Truss et al., 2012; Whitehouse, 2006; Gill & Grint, 1995). It is ironic to note that the earliest computer programmers were women, possibly because programming work was linked to their roles as clerks (Perry & Gerber, 1990). However, with time and when computer programming rose in importance, things changed and men took over this field (Kelan, 2009). A quick look at education statistics confirms this. For example, in Malta, in 2011 there were twice as many male ICT graduates (n.84) as there were females (n.37) (University of Malta, 2011). When it comes to persons employed in ICT related activities in Malta, the gap between women and men is even bigger with 84% of knowledge workers being males and 16% females (National Statistics Office, LFS, 2012).

Many researchers have been noticing that in some countries, women’s presence in specific areas of computing work has been diminishing (Misa, 2010; Kirkup, Zalevski, & Maruyama & Batool, 2010; Griffiths & Moore, 2010) and that women tend to leave the ICT sector in bigger numbers than men (Panteli, Stack, Atkinson & Ramsay, 1999). There are several reasons why girls shy away from the ICT world. These may be linked to cultural barriers and to sector specific problems that can block the access and promotion of women in the ICT field (Simard, Henderson, Gilmartin, Schiebinger & Whitney, 2008; Webster, 2005; Margolis & Fisher, 2002; Woodfield, 2002; Wajcman, 1991). Women may also keep away from the ICT sector because of the working conditions where

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the long hour’s culture, tight deadlines and the need for constant updates, are deemed to be in conflict with combining work and family (Valenduc & Vendramin, 2004). However researchers in Australia found out, that whilst computer professionals were “under considerable pressure to maintain ideal worker profiles”, some women across different ages managed to remain in the sector and retain “average parenthood rates” (Whitehouse & Preston, 2005, p.278). These women managed to do so by selecting certain roles within the profession and by avoiding others, which could possibly conflict with the demands of parenting (Whitehouse & Preston, 2005). Does this mean that the conflicting roles are left to men (and some unencumbered women) in the organisation, thus leaving gendered ideal worker values intact?

ICT workers do not operate in a vacuum, and the decisions they take are influenced by the national and organisational cultural they operate in. In addition, the current economic crisis adds another dimension to the context of this study. Heeding to Coghlan and Brannick’s (2010) call to consider the economic forces at play when conducting case studies, it becomes essential to ask how the economic recession is affecting the organisation of work and life.