FW: THE CYBERDAMNED - Le Monde diplomatique

["Cordell, Arthur: #ECOM - COM�"]

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From: Sid Shniad
Subject: THE CYBERDAMNED - Le Monde diplomatique
Date: Friday, February 18, 2000 6:32PM

Le Monde diplomatique                                   February 2000

THE CYBERDAMNED

                        by Serge Halimi

        It is by no means certain that the -new economy- has given birth
to the race of entrepreneurs and workers lauded by writers in (cyber)
business journals. It is nice to imagine new men (for they are almost
always males), funny, flexible, friendly, easy-going libertarians, almost
Bohemians, gathered in a garage or council flat, scribbling a brilliant
idea on the back of an old envelope that will boost them from poverty
to cyber-billionaire status. And all thanks to money markets that are
just as fun-loving, friendly, Epicurean, deregulated and keen to break
down class barriers and privileges.

        Well, maybe. A few weeks ago Management Today looked at the
backgrounds of the people behind Britain+s 25 top startups. Did they
go from rags to riches? Apparently not. About the only thing they had
in common was that they came from well-to-do middle class families
living in London+s Notting Hill- (1), which is not exactly a council
estate.

        As for their employees, they have become the cyber-damned. As
yet the expression is unusual, but the reality it describes is much more
common. Just turn your browser to Amazon, one of the flagships of
the -dot.com- economy. It was incorporated in 1995 and is already
worth more than all the major American bookseller chains put
together. Its founder Jeff Bezos owns over $4bn. The work of
Amazon employees is less lucrative and a great deal less creative.
Several hundred, many young, unmarried and well educated, work at
the Seattle premises in gigantic landscaped offices split into tiny,
shared cubicles. With their head-sets plugged in and their eyes glued
to the screen they handle millions of e-mail orders a year.

        Some managers at Amazon refer to them as -electronic peasants-,
for when they are on-line with a customer they are not supposed to
show off their literary skills. The focus in these modern times is on
output: 12 e-mails an hour and the sack for anyone who drops below
seven and a half (2). On the phone any conversation exceeding four
minutes, in a voice that according to a former employee -is supposed
to be loud enough for the customer to hear and quiet enough to keep
from distracting cubical mates,- earns the guilty party a warning.

        -It+s like Communist China under Mao,- explains one of the new
economy+s production-line workers, -you+re constantly being pushed
to help the collective. If you fail to do this, you+re going against your
family. But if this is a family, it belongs on the Jerry Springer show.-
Such ingratitude in a company that is constantly organising events for
its workers - or devotees. Last September, for instance, there was a
-Midnight madness- keyboard marathon, humorously announced by
an e-mail entitled -You can sleep when you+re dead-. This irresistible
game involved coming to work at night to cope with as many
outstanding cyber-orders as possible. The winner received a princely
$100 prize.

        Richard Howard, a former employee, is dubious about the
revolutionary character of social relations in the new economy: -We
basically did drone work and had people breathing down our necks all
the time. How revolutionary is that? The only difference is that a lot
of supervisors had pierced ears and wore leather.-

(1) See John Davison, -Internet whizzkids backed by rich
parents-, The Independent, 8 January 2000.

(2) See Mark Leibovich, -Service Without a Smile-, The
Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 13 December 1999.

Translated by Harry Forster