Allocation of Work

The overwhelming nature of work undertaken by the ICT professionals within this company is assignment work. As one asset manager described “ You will get a whole lot of different people involved in assignment and project work." Assignment team skills, such a project management or information architects, are provided from the various departments within the company and it is a small group of managers who decide who will be in the teams. In sum, there is a highly sophisticated internal division of labour, which is a key element in the continuation of alienation.

The lists of projects and jobs required are often posted on the company’s intranet. The idea here is that people can choose the projects on which they work. This can appear as if people can select which type of project they wish to undertake. An ICT professional put it this way “In theory you can pick ... your own assignment but in practice you get pressurised to do certain work." Thus from the inception of the work process, ICT professionals have virtually no say in what work they undertake.