Between the software factory and the digital platform: the working conditions of software developers

• Grant number: 20/15078-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2021
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Henrique José Domiciano Amorim
• Grantee: Guilherme Henrique Guilherme
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/04254-9 - Between the software factory and the digital platform: the work of software programmers in the context of platformization and agile methodologies, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

This research aims to develop a study about the work of software programmers by drawing a comparison between those who work within software factories and those who program from digital platforms. From this comparative perspective, we will analyze the ways of exploiting, controlling and monitoring the work of software developers today. On the one hand, we will discuss how the forms of organization based on Toyotism operate within the software factories of the technological center of Campinas and what are the possibilities of subordination of this workforce through agile methods. On the other hand, we will approach digital platforms, questioning this new way of organizing and managing work that seems to open new productive and work frontiers. In this sense, we start from the hypothesis that the platform would be a way to radicalize the work exploitation. We will discuss, in this way, the extent to which the work of programming and software development can be managed through these digital platforms and what are the trends of this work in the context of the Brazilian labor market, seeking to answer the following questions: 1) is it possible that this informational work, creative at the first sight, will have its characteristics appropriated by the work management, through agile methods, becoming a repetitive and easily replaceable work?; 2) what are the trends of platforming of this type of work?; 3) can this become the predominant way of organizing this type of production and work or, at least, a way that has a socially relevant impact? For this, in addition to the bibliographical survey and discussion, we will conduct an empirical research through qualitative interviews with the workers in both these work conditions. (AU)