Neo-villeiny and the service sector the case of hyper flexible and precarious work in fitness centres

This article presents data from a comprehensive study of hyper flexible and precarious work in the service sector. A series of interviews were conducted with self-employed personal trainers along with more than 200 hours of participant observation within fitness centres in the UK. Analysis of the da...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Work, employment and society Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 19 - 35
Main Authors: Harvey, Geraint, Rhodes, Carl, Vachhani, Sheena J, Williams, Karen
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England SAGE Publications Ltd 01.02.2017
SAGE Publications
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:
Gig economy
Health clubs
Income
Insecure
Participant observation
Personal trainers
Self employment
Service industries
Trainers
Unpaid
Work
United Kingdom > UK
non-standard work
neo-villeiny
gig economy
service sector
precarious work
workplace flexibility
hyper flexibility
ISSN:0950-0170, 1469-8722
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article presents data from a comprehensive study of hyper flexible and precarious work in the service sector. A series of interviews were conducted with self-employed personal trainers along with more than 200 hours of participant observation within fitness centres in the UK. Analysis of the data reveals a new form of hyper flexible and precarious work that is labelled neo-villeiny in this article. Neo-villeiny is characterized by four features: bondage to the organization; payment of rent to the organization; no guarantee of any income; and extensive unpaid and speculative work that is highly beneficial to the organization. The neo-villeiny of the self-employed personal trainer offers the fitness centre all of the benefits associated with hyper flexible work, but also mitigates the detrimental outcomes associated with precarious work. The article considers the potential for adoption of this new form of hyper flexible and precarious work across the broader service sector.
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ISSN:0950-0170
1469-8722
DOI:10.1177/0950017016638023