Craig Lambert takes aim at “shadow work” in an article titled “The second job you don’t know you have” in Politico. He writes that companies have three main ways of cutting payroll: downsize, automate, or—the focus of his article—outsource the work to their customers. As a result of this last, he notes, “We are pumping our own gas, scanning our own groceries, booking our travel, and busing our tables at Starbucks.”
Lambert, the author of Shadow Work: The Unseen, Unpaid Jobs That Fill Your Day, points out that automation has traditionally eliminated jobs at the point of production, whereas shadow work eliminates jobs at the point of sale—thereby “…squeezing out entry-level jobs that have launched countless careers.” He cites the experience of his own father, who started out as a messenger for a small-town bank and rose to become president, chairman, and CEO. (It’s worth noting that Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina’s career has followed a similar trajectory.)
It’s certainly unfortunate that shadow work is eliminating entry-level jobs. And the term “shadow work” sounds nefarious, invoking as it does “underground economy” and cash changing hands without documentation and taxation.
To counter this trend, it seems to me companies should compensate their customers for the shadow work the customers perform. If I pump my own gas or book travel reservations online, why should the service station and my bank not compensate me for my time, at least at minimum wage? I may not need the $9 per hour or whatever, but it would inject the concept of actual labor costs back into the system.
Of course, the reality is that shadow work is convenient for the customer as well as the vendor. Without online banking, I would have to go over to the nearest branch and wait in line for a teller. I used to call a travel agent to make airline reservations, but I needed to be on the phone throughout the transaction to determine whether certain departure and arrival times and costs were acceptable. Before self-serve, there wasn’t much a driver could do while an attendant filled the tank. At least now with hands-free mobile devices we can return calls while pumping our own gas. Perhaps we should feel lucky that companies don’t charge us for the opportunity to perform shadow work, let alone compensate us for it.
Lambert points out that shadow work does spin off some jobs while it destroys others. Someone needs to design and build robotic gas pumps, for example, and online travel services create jobs for web designers, marketers, and advertising executives. Nevertheless, he concludes, “The future of entry-level work remains a conundrum.”
