进取与迷失:程序员实习生的职业生活

本研究以某外卖公司中程序员实习生的甘愿“被制造”为例,探讨了不稳定工作中的主体性建构问题,发现程序员实习生在互联网行业的训导下,习惯于将自我物化为特定的可计数的劳动产品,或是被认为是职业发展“通行证”的技术等级,并认定只有在互联网企业中而非学校、国企或外企中才能成就这种进取自我。尽管“导师-实习生”的关系以及凸显男性气质的性别游戏也构成了游戏可选择的一部分,但它们非但没有挑战,还在相当程度上强化了进取自我,即不断提升自己技术等级的逻辑。然而,在程序员实习生被循环和无感的时间所蒙蔽,以及私人生活被极大压缩的情况下,进取自我游戏的结果注定是大多数人的自我迷失。

Enterprising and Lost: Professional Lives for Programmer -Interns

Internship is a typical precarious job. Among all interns, however, programmer interns distinct themselves as a group that often performs the same tasks as formal employees at the junior programmer level but endures much higher work pressure and much lower pay. Even as many in the group are at the age close to the so-called "35 years old crisis point," a long-term internship is still seen as the only right track for professional career development. Drawing on Burawoy's (1979) concept of the game of "making out", this study explores the construction of subjectivity in precarious jobs by looking into the manufacturing of consent of programmer-interns in a takeout delivery service company. Programmer-interns became accustomed to identify themselves with a particular type of quantifiable labor product, for instance, the "post-it" on the whiteboard in a "stand-up meeting", or the "T-levels" (technology levels) that, according to the internet industry, is the "gateway" for professional career development. Programmer-interns seem to believe that rather than secondary education, or state-owned enterprises, or multi-national enterprises, only domestic internet companies can help them to complete their enterprising-selves. Even though supervisor-intern relationship and gender game of masculinity expression constitute part of programmer-interns' enterprising-self game, the essence of the game has never been challenged and in some ways is only being reenforced. That essence is the continuous step up of T-levels. However, for the majority of programmer-interns, the outcome of the game is the loss of self as they are trapped in an endless cycle of step-up. As if by improving their labor value as skilled workers, programmer-interns are simultaneously closing off other windows of opportunity of winning the enterprising-self game.