Giulia - The Gypsy Dancer

The free life of a dance teacher

Giulia scored her job as 10/10 (with ten being the most fantastic job imaginable).

For one hour during the week, the boathouse on the swan river is Giulia’s workspace and it is here where she teaches salsa as contractor for a local university. Inside, the place looks like a temple: the dance room has no furniture, large windows on both sides of the room allow the sunlight to enter and shine on the dark parquet floor. The room seems to be floating on the river because the house is just built above the water. Giving dance students the impression to be “walking on water” is probably a good start to make them feel confident for a dancing lesson.

Giulia’s current professional situation can be described as portfolio work. That means that she is self-employed and works for multiple clients and organisations[1]. She teaches dance and drama.

Giulia scores her job as a dance teacher a “ten” on a scale out of ten. The “best thing” is knowing how much life can change when people start dancing. She cannot imagine her life without dance, and is proud that she can pass this gift to others. She loves to see how dancing changes the lives of her students: It is those “light-bulb moments” that energize her every day. “I am gifting people to have an outlet for creative expression”, Giulia explains.

Giulia’s credo is that humans dance naturally and she enjoys challenging the assumptions of students who believe that they cannot move properly.

Giulia values having immediate feedback from her students and observing how they develop and grow.

The passion that Giulia describes relates to the idea of having a “calling[2]” – a concept that scholars describe to capture how some people feel 'summoned' towards a meaningful life role that is used to serve others and that orientates people to derive a sense of purpose.

People who view their jobs as a calling show higher levels of well-being in terms of life and job satisfaction than people who do not [3]. For example, research that compared teachers who feel teaching is a calling for them with teachers who saw their work more as a career or job showed that the former teachers are more willing to accept extra duties in their work[4].

Giulia's job can also be challenging, with a distinct lack of job security compared to “normal day jobs”. She previously worked at the health department – a job that she describes as “deeply depressing ” but that nevertheless gave her a sense of security. She holds in for a second and adds: “But I am not missing that – I prefer the gypsy life”. Giulia’s attitude is consistent with research that shows not all individuals react negatively to casual and temporary work, with the effects of job insecurity depending on one’s personality[5] and family situation [6].

Giulia’s students can feel her passion for dance during the class. Even during times when her work demands were high, she says: “You get that happy-tired feeling where your feet are hurting so much, but you are still happy .” Research suggests that Giulia’s optimistic nature, that is, her ability to look at the bright side of things, is a personality trait that protects portfolio workers from work-related strain [1]. And her optimism and energy certainly makes for a vibrant dance class.

References

[1] Totterdell, P., Wood, S., & Wall, T. (2006). An intra‐individual test of the demands‐control model: A weekly diary study of psychological strain in portfolio workers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 79(1), 63-84. This study shows that, during times when work demands are particularly high and and when they have little control about their working hours or cannot plan their work ahead of time, portfolio workers with an optimistic personality experience significantly less psychological strain than pessimistic portfolio workers.

[2] Dik, B. J., & Duffy, R. D. (2009). Calling and vocation at work: Definitions and prospects for research and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(3), 424-450.

[3] Wrzesniewski, A., McCauley, C., Rozin, P., & Schwartz, B. (1997). Jobs, careers, and callings: People's relations to their work. Journal of Research in Personality, 31(1), 21-33.

[4] Serow, R. C. (1994). Called to teach: A study of highly motivated preservice teachers. Journal of Research & Development in Education.

[5] Näswall, K., Sverke, M., & Hellgren, J. (2005). The moderating role of personality characteristics on the relationship between job insecurity and strain. Work & Stress, 19(1), 37-49.

[6] Lim, V. K. (1996). Job insecurity and its outcomes: Moderating effects of work-based and nonwork-based social support. Human Relations, 49(2), 171-194.

A little more...

Has the role of technology changed the job of a dance teacher?

Yes, Giulia’s job has changed massively as a result of technology. These days, students are using videos on the internet to teach themselves dance moves. This is somehow upsetting to her because there are lot of teachers who have no experience as an instructor and who teach badly. She also believes that learning more elaborated dance moves is not feasible by simply watching a video. If Giulia had to teach virtually it would take away one the elements away that she loves most about her job: Having immediate feedback from her students and observing how they develop and grow.

Behind the Scenes

The Day I Interviewed My Dance Teacher, by Florian Klonek

We are waiting in front of the boathouse when John (our videographer) notices a group of dolphins in the swan river. The evening sun throws a warm light on us, while we are watching how the dolphins are playing and hunting fish in the stream. From a distance, I can hear the screaming sound of seagulls and my gaze admires the skyline of the city that stretches magically behind the waterfront. A group of rowing boats silently pass by and neither the dolphins nor the rowers seem to be impressed by each others presence. The river is big enough to host space for all of them – including a group of black swans that are nesting just beside the water.

While we are sitting and relaxing on a rowing boat that somebody dumped on the beach near the river, I can hear a voice calling in the background: “The dolphins… they just passed again… have you seen them?” Giulia appears behind one of the cars that were parked at the beach next to the boathouse where we have been waiting for her. She swings her long and thick red hair back and gives me a cordial hug. Giulia is not particularly tall but you can feel her presence the moment she walks into a scene. 

We head to boathouse, which is the place where I started learning Salsa three weeks ago. I had no choice because shortly after meeting Giulia, she said: “I am going to make you a salsa dancer. And if this is the last thing I will do in my life.” I do not know where she got that self-determination but it was useless to argue with her and we had a deal.

Gig workers - The Pros and Cons of Delivering Food

Thumbs up for gig work, at least for some workers, some of the time

This job was scored by our participants as 6.5/10 on average (with ten being the most fantastic job imaginable).

In the busy street of Perth’s restaurant hub, a gathering of young men stand next to their scooters, all bearing the large square, black bag, ubiquitously synonymous with Uber Eats.  

These men are gig workers whose job it is to deliver food to customers who order from restaurants. The workers log into an ‘app’ on their smartphone and wait around in the vicinity of nearby restaurants until they are notified that an order has been placed and needs to be delivered. Then off they go on their scooters or push bikes (mostly scooters), guided by google maps, to their destinations. They are paid “per gig”, and so none of the waiting time, nor the length of time it takes to deliver food, are reflected in the pay received.

In the media, gig worker jobs are often portrayed as menial, unfairly paid, lacking security, and devoid of employee rights and benefits such as annual leave, sick pay and superannuation. In sum, these jobs are labelled ‘poor-quality’.  

But this description doesn’t seem to fully capture the experiences of the gig workers we spoke to. The young men (and they were all men) seemed cheerful and happy. As foreign students, they were keen to improve their English, make friends, and earn enough to get by. They were enamored by the freedom over when they could work, with one worker describing how he could ‘just wake up and get started’. Another went so far as to state that ‘the best point of this, Uber’ was being able to start and finish the work ‘whenever you want to’. The opportunity for social connections was also valued, with workers quoting how they could ‘make friends’ and ‘have fun at the same time (as working)’

The high levels of autonomy and peer support described by our interviewees are hallmarks of a ‘good quality’ job. The instant reward and feedback, with payment per gig, ‘on the spot’ customer feedback and instant online reviews and ratings, can also contribute to a good job experience.

Another attraction was that the start-up costs were low – the lack of prerequisites for getting going as a gig food deliverer (e.g., no responding to job advertisements, no special insurance, no special training) makes the job an accessible one for some people. It is quite clear that, at least for some workers, gig work is a good fit. 

The work isn’t all fun and games though. One worker observed that ‘the money’s not really good’ and that ‘sometimes it’s difficult to get a delivery’; which is consistent with research suggesting overall rather low levels of pay for this type of work.

Another worker found the waiting time ‘boring’, which contrasted with the exhaustion of making the actual deliveries by push bike.

We also noticed high noise levels of the surroundings, with traffic, fumes, and pedestrians adding to the chaos and unpredictable nature of the working environment. Such demands require workers to be flexible, adaptable and at ease with uncertainty. As research has suggested, perhaps gig work is seen as attractive partly because of its contrast against plausible alternative  (and not-very-good) jobs that are available to these workers given visa restrictions? 

Altogether, our brief foray into the world of gig work suggests that, for some people, in a particular space and time, this job seems to do just nicely. The autonomy, social contact, and job feedback are very much welcomed. 

But how long such positive views last (maybe those who get fed up or disillusioned just quit?), how widely the jobs appeal (is it a job mainly appreciated by international students?), or how much the positive views reflect mostly a contrast effect (what if the students were comparing this work to, say, professional jobs?) still needs more investigation.  Of course, such research is exactly what we plan to do in our Centre of Transformative Work Design, so stay tuned for more details!     

References

[1] Humphrey, S., E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332-1356. doi 10.1037/0021-9010.92.5.1332

[2] Goods, C., Veen, A., & Barratt, T. (2017, August 21). Being exploited and breaching your visa: the limited choices of the food delivery worker. The Conversation. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/being-exploited-and-breaching-your-visa-the-limited-choices-of-the-food-delivery-worker-82589

[3] Kaine, S., Veen, A., Goods, C., & Josserand, E. (2017, June 19). ‘The way they manipulate people is really saddening’: study shows the trade-offs in gig work. The Conversation. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/the-way-they-manipulate-people-is-really-saddening-study-shows-the-trade-offs-in-gig-work-79042

A little more...

Drone take over?

Technology has enabled food delivery gig work to exist in it’s current form, with smartphones, the delivery ‘app’, and google maps all essential tools for the gig worker.

These drive the efficiency of the process from picking up the food to delivering it safely into the hands of a customer. Even the humble bicycle has a part to play, enabling the transport of food from restaurant to customer in a relatively short space of time. Some predict that over 40% of all jobs in Australia will disappear due to automation. How will developments in technology change gig work in the future though? One worker thinks it will become more automatized, with drones doing the deliveries. He thinks that one day there will be no need for delivery workers. He’s not worried about the future of his job though, as he thinks technology has a long way to go before drones take over, and doesn’t envisage working as a gig worker for ever. In the short term, at least, it seems this job is safe from robot takeover.

Behind the Scenes

by Caroline Knight

We stepped out of the taxi into the throng of Northbridge, Perth, on a Friday night during the Fringe Festival and Chinese New Year. The impatient beeps from cars and the revving of motorbikes greeted us, alongside background tunes playing from various venues along the people lined streets. Large neon lights advertised various shows occurring across the city and excited festival goers were eagerly checking out the vast array of entertainment on offer. 

I began to wonder if we were being a little optimistic to assume that amongst this busyness, we would find some suitably idle ‘gig workers’ willing to talk to us, some researchers from the University of Western Australia.   

I needn’t have worried as we soon came across a gathering of young men standing next to scooters all bearing the large square, black bag, ubiquitously synonymous with Uber Eats.

The young men were cheerful and happy to spend their ‘downtime’ talking to us. We sat on the floor in a little cove outside a shop which was already closed. It was set back a bit from the road so we were out of the way of passers-by. This was an ideal spot for the gig workers as one of the restaurants they delivered food from was just next door and there were several others in the area. It was also a great spot for gig workers to watch their scooters, with scooter parking being available on the road in front of us. As we talked, the other gig workers sat about on their scooters chatting and admiring the sketches our Artist in Residence was producing. In many ways, it seemed the gig workers had created a nice little community for themselves.  

Technology to replace shearers?

"NOT in my life time" Shearing jobs look safe from robots for some time to come

by Sharon K. Parker

Fears of digitalization taking over jobs have ramped up, with many commentators predicting massive job losses in the future.

Yet it seems unlikely that robots will successfully shear sheep any time soon. “Not in my life-time”, predicts Cartright, a world-record-holding shearer. “Robots can do it (shear the sheep)”, he says, “but they cost too much”. Bill, a 67 year old veteran shearer agrees, pointing to the corner of the shed:

“Right there – that’s where they tried a machine set up shearing sheep. It was useless, it couldn’t keep up with the blokes”.

Failed attempts at sheep shearing machines

There have certainly been attempts to shear sheep with robot-like machines since the late 1970s[1]. But, as Steve the boss observed, “they spent $10 million on trying to do that and the machine is sitting over east in someone’s paddock.

So shearing robots have never been very successful. Why is this so?

Shearing is an excellent example of work that is high in tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is ‘knowing how’ to do something, yet not being able to clearly articulate or write down this knowledge[2]. At least historically, because of the difficulty of articulation, it is difficult to acquire and transfer tacit knowledge from skilled human workers to robots. As one of the shearers explained:

 “It (shearing) is a feel job… A robot can’t feel. You feel the handpick, you feel the sheep, and the sheep feels you and knows your positions… it’s a whole body job.”

Robots can't do the whole job

With machine learning, robots are getting cleverer at taking over those tasks we previously assumed were too tacit for machines to learn. But there is still a challenge. Shearing highlights a crucial point about digitalization. And that is that robots and machines are much less likely to cause change in whole jobs, but rather will affect tasks within jobs.

So even if there was a robot shearer that was faster and more cost effective than a human, and that could cope with all the ways that sheep vary, someone still needs to catch the sheep and get it locked in the right position. And someone needs to put the sheep back after its been shorn. And someone needs to pick up the wool, and decide its quality. The massive investment needed to do all these different tasks using robots, in a co-ordinated way, is unlikely to ever justify the savings. It is simpler and more efficient for humans to just shear the sheep. So, in the end, Cartright’s prediction of “not in my lifetime” seems spot on.

Help people instead of replacing them

Instead of trying to replace humans with machines - the focus of many technological efforts - perhaps the goal should be to use technology to help humans to do the work. Maybe, for instance, effort is best spent improving the way shearing is done[3] to better protect shearers’ backs from injury[4].

References

[1] See, for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM

[2] Polyani,M. (1958) Personal knowledge. Tacit knowledge

[3] See, for example, http://blog.mecardo.com.au/an-evolution-in-sheep-shearing

[4] Gregory, D. E., Milosavljevic, S., & Callaghan, J. P. (2006). Quantifying low back peak and cumulative loads in open and senior sheep shearers in New Zealand: examining the effects of a trunk harness. Ergonomics, 49(10), 968-981.