New Subjective Orientations At Work? Young People in The Retail industry in Chile

Abstract

We analyze the narratives of young workers with low qualification of retail, proposing 4 subjective orientations that express a strong individualization of work experience. It is a labor subject that demands (i) a dignified and respectful treatment; (ii) that values the sociability spaces, (iii) with a marked short-term transactional rationality; and (iv) with a permanent projection although it is wandering towards the future of work that declines in four different figures - split, capitalized, dreamy and blocked - according to the specific biographical and labor condition. We discuss the relationship between these findings and the processes of labor flexibility and cultural individualization in Chilean society, as well as with the particular working conditions in the retail industry.