“We Must Be out of That”

Abstract

Drawing from ethnographic data gathered in a large U.S. supermarket, the author develops the concept of deflective labor to further our understanding of customer service work as more than providing service to the customer. In an effort to maintain dignity on the shop floor, workers learned to simultaneously deflect and fulfill customer service inquiries. Rather than viewing deflection as the logical conclusion of a low-skilled workforce, positing deflective labor as an actual form of assistance allows us to better understand the realities of interactive service work. It is suggested that the retailer may allow deflective labor to assuage worker dissatisfaction and maintain the store’s reputation as a “good place to work.”