Critical Analysis of The Electronic Sweatshop by Barbara Garson

Critical Analysis of The Electronic Sweatshop by Barbara Garson

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Summary

In her introduction, Barbara Garson gives the reader an idea of her personal work experience as a clerk with automation. One can see that Garson is a strong critique of automation. In order to convey how automation is affecting our society the author begins by analyzing and studying various jobs from the bottom on up (i.e. starting with the most unskilled labor).

Chapter one examines the various occupations at McDonalds's. Barbara Garson finds that most workers here tend to dislike their jobs. Due to the tremendous amount of stress created by automated systems such as timers and computer generated productivity statistics McDonald's has a high turn over rate in employment.

The second chapter of the book deals with reservation agents employed at airlines. Barbara Garson explains how this profession has also undergone automation. By interviewing individuals at American Airlines and Air Canada she finds that conversations with customers are no longer controlled by the reservation agent, but by a set of scripts or even a supervisor secretively listening in on the conversation.

Critical Analysis

Both of these two chapters analyze the effects of automation on two different types of professions. I found it interesting that individuals working as reservation agents find it easier to cope with automation than McDonald's employees. I guess this is due to the fact that reservation agents are allowed to practice a little more individual thinking than someone waiting for a buzzer telling him or her when to flip a meat patty.

However, I have worked as a tele-marketer here at the university soliciting funds from alumni and previo...

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...Yet, the average citizen is tricked in believing our economy is fine. One must realize that for every 100 people in the work force 6 people are unemployed when we are at economic equilibrium. This means that while economists tell the president everything is fine there are 6 out of 100 families struggling to feed their children. If you transfer this figure to the overall population this means approximately 15 million people are without jobs; that's a lot of people out on the streets during so called economic stable times.

Furthermore, economists, politicians, CEO, and other elites constantly gloat that the U.S. has the richest economy or the highest GDP in the world. Yet, are we not forgetting that there is such a tremendous gap between rich and poor in this country, and thus a large number of our citizens are forced to live under near Third World like conditions?