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Work and Occupations, Vol. 33, No. 1, 12-41 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0730888405280160

Occupational Networking as Normative Control

Collegial Exchange Among Contract Professionals

Debra Osnowitz

Brandeis University

With workforce flexibility and nonstandard, "contingent," work have come new mechanisms for labor market mediation and workforce control. This study examines occupational connection and control in two groups of contract professionals. For these occupational practitioners, networking is a mechanism for labor market regulation as well as for finding work. Networking perpetuates occupational norms that demand commitment towork, accountability to clients, and reciprocity among colleagues. Adhering to occupational norms, contractors develop reputations that can enhance the likelihood of referrals from colleagues for contract assignments. Collegial exchange in an occupational labor market, therefore, exposes contractors to the informal sanctions of normative control.

Key Words: contract work • networking • nonstandard employment • professionalism • worker control


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