Information Technology, Gender Segmentation and the Relocation of Back Office Employment: The Growth of the Teleservices Sector in\ud Ireland

摘要

The movement of routine back office activities from the central business districts\udof metropolitan regions in advanced economies to remote locations is leading to\uda distinctive global division of labour in office employment. While facilitated by\udthe development of information and communication technologies, this process\udof relocation is primarily driven by the desire to reduce operating costs, mainly\udby moving to sources of cheap female workers. This reflects a classic gender\udsegmentation process in patriarchal societies whereby back office work is mainly\uddone by women and, accordingly, involves relatively low levels of remuneration.\udThis provides direct parallels with the offshoring of routine manufacturing work\udassociated with the new international division of labour. Ireland has been to the\udforefront in acting as a host for internationally-mobile routine office work, initially\udinvolving mainly data processing and, more recently, teleservices. As elsewhere,\udteleservices employment in Ireland is characterized by a combination of female\udpredominance, low pay, difficult working conditions and high turnover rates.\udHowever, the Irish teleservices sector is unusual in its foreign language requirement,\udthe high education levels of workers and its concentration in a prosperous\udmetropolitan location. The resultant labour shortages, combined with growing\uduse of Internet-based business-to-consumer transactions, are likely to place the\udsustainability of the sector under increasing pressure. Plans to upgrade the types\udof back office functions being located in Ireland may pose further challenges for\udwomen workers due to male dominance of the higher-level jobs involved.