å Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

In this chapter Ross discusses cheapened and discounted labor that he believes is a result of digital media. He uses the example of reality tv show contestants and white collar/ no collar interns to demonstrate his point. To the public, it may seem like these two examples are simply the result of changes in our society, but Ross highlights the corporate strategy behind both of these. First, reality tv became appealing to the TV industry not because it was simply something new and exciting to present to the public, but because it benefitted the TV industry first and foremost. Ross states “The production costs of these shows are a fraction of what producers pay for conventional, scripted drama. They are so cheap to make, that virtually all the production costs are earned back from the first network showing; syndicated or overseas sales are all profit.” This move to reality television was really done to keep the Writers Guild of America out of reality programming, by claiming there is no need for writers since reality television is unscripted.

Secondly, interning in America has become, in the words of Ross, “the fastest growing job category of recent years for a large slice of educated youth trying to gain entry into workplaces.” He addresses the fact that internships are argued to provide workers with experience and skills, and as a prelude to employment, but in most cases, employment never actually happens. It’s the smartest way to get people to work for free; by giving them false hope of employment into the field they desire to be in. He states ” Corporate America enjoys a $2 billion annual subsidy from internships alone, and this sum does not include the massive tax dodges that many firm execute through employer misclassification.” So while corporations are making it seem like the benefit is to the intern (because he is gaining experience by working for free) the true benefit is to the employer and the corporation because they get a supply of people eager to work hard for no compensation.

In this chapter, Ross touches on the topic of the feminization of labor, which has to do with the fact that certain jobs (mostly low paying or non paying jobs) have been branded as “feminine” jobs in our culture today. He addresses the fact that American culture has seen an increase in unpaid internships within the last few years, and that women make up the majority of these unpaid internships. Ross states “Most trades remain male strongholds and less than 10% of registered apprentices are female, with women dominating the most precarious sectors of white collar and no-collar employment.” He believes that the intern economy is a reflection of the feminization of work, because most of these positions are filled by women. His statistics go on to show that these internships rarely transition into a permanent job placement, which in turn brings to light the inequality that women face in the workplace. Ross states “the sacrifices, trade offs, and humiliations entailed in interning are more redolent of traditional kinds of women’s work, whether at home or in what used to be called the secondary labor market.”

I agree with this assessment because more and more I see positions that are traditionally filled by women (such as secretary or admin jobs) being offered as temp jobs, but rarely,(if ever), do you find a male dominated job position for SVP or Managing Director being offered on a temporary basis. If we do a critical assessment of the jobs that offer unpaid internships or temp jobs, they tend to predominantly target the female population. We come to believe that internships provide the necessary training in order to be qualified for a position, but we do not realize that it is an illusion created by the corporate giants, one that has provided them with the ability to get workers for free.