Favoured subjects. The myth of the Middle Class and the imaginary of Cluj IT

Abstract

Abstract Romanian IT professionals are marketized as young, highly skilled, and full of potential individuals. However, there is a contradiction in their image. In the discourse of international outsourcing, they are presented as cheap labour, while on the national and local level they are considered high earners. Under the privilege of income tax exemption, the IT sector is continuously growing and attracting labour, providing well-paying entry-level jobs and bringing in foreign capital. At the same time, on a symbolic level, it also developed a reputation as a facilitator of social ascension and of importer of European ideas. In this paper I aim to examine what drives people towards professional reorientation to IT. How is the idea of the middle class being used? What is the imaginary that makes people take on the risky and arduous road of re-professionalization and what are its consequences?