Employee resilience: a labour process perspective

Abstract

The concept of employee resilience continues to receive burgeoning academic attention within the fields of organisational psychology and human resource management, while practitioner interest has intensified since the pandemic. So far, however, resilience remains underexamined from a labour process perspective. Taking a labour process theory lens, this article explores the potential silencing effect of resilience in the workplace. We argue that the universalist narrative of resilience, one which embodies neoliberalism and individualism, has implications for how work is governed and for worker resistance. We conclude with a discussion of the need to counter such forms of hegemonic control arising from the contemporary rhetoric of resilience.