Building Interpersonal Bonds and Networks at Work: Recreational Spaces and Class and Gender Membership

Abstract

In this article we argue that social networks produced in recreational spaces in the workplace are key to workers' employment trajectories. Drawing from a Chilean case study, we argue that employer‐organised workplace entertainment activities, which we call formal events, provide a unique opportunity for workers to establish bonds and contacts that challenge tendencies towards homophily (social similarity) in ways that are particularly helpful to groups marginalised by gender and social class. We also show how employee‐organised events, on the contrary, which we call informal events, solidify homophily, shoring up pre‐existing group solidarities and privileges, negatively affecting conditions of employment and the upward mobility of workers with limited existing social capital and networks.