‘It’s Like a War Zone’: Jay’s Liminal Experience of Normal and Extreme Work in a UK Supermarket during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Minjie Cai, Scott Tindal, Safak Tartanoglu Bennett and Jay Velu
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Minjie Cai: University of Greenwich, UK
Scott Tindal: University of Greenwich, UK
Safak Tartanoglu Bennett: University of Greenwich, UK
Jay Velu: University of Greenwich, UK

Work, Employment & Society, 2021, vol. 35, issue 2, 386-395

Abstract: This article presents a UK supermarket worker’s experiences of work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Writing during a period of uncertainty, Jay’s narrative reveals how the sudden and constant transitions between mundanity and extremity on the shop floor evoke conflicting emotions and work intensification that disrupt and reconstruct normality. His accounts describe violent customer behaviours, absent management, a lack of clear organisational policies, and the different views of appropriate health and safety measures among colleagues. It illustrates how liminality in the workplace at a time of crisis can endanger employees whose seemingly mundane jobs become extreme.

Keywords: extreme work; frontline services; key workers; liminality; supermarket jobs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:35:y:2021:i:2:p:386-395

DOI: 10.1177/0950017020966527

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