scholarly journals Domestic Work and the Gig Economy in South Africa: Old wine in new bottles?

2020 ◽  
pp. 102-121
Author(s):  
Abigail Hunt ◽  
Emma Samman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Traditional Sector

Based on innovative, mixed-methods research, this article examines the entry of on-demand platform models into the domestic work sector in South Africa. This sector has long been characterised by high levels of informality, precarity, and exploitation, though recent regulatory advances have provided labour and social protections to some domestic workers. We locate the rise of the on-demand economy within the longer-term trajectory of domestic work in South Africa, identifying the ‘traditional’ sector as a key site of undervalued labour. On-demand domestic work platforms create much-needed economic opportunities in a context of pervasive un(der)-employment, opportunities that come with some incremental improvements over traditional working arrangements. Yet we contend that platform models maintain the patterns of everyday abuse found elsewhere in the domestic work sector. These models are premised on an ability to navigate regulatory contexts to provide clients with readily available, flexible labour without longer-term commitment, therefore sidestepping employer obligations to provide labour rights and protections. As a result, on-demand companies reinforce the undervalued and largely unprotected labour of marginalised women domestic workers.

Is outsourcing better? Clients' views on contracting in domestic cleaning services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David du Toit ◽  
Lindy Heinecken
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Domestic Servants ◽  
The People ◽  
Routine Tasks

PurposeThe nature of paid domestic work is changing, with the growth in companies delivering domestic cleaning services. Few studies have looked at why people opt to use these services and the underlying drivers. As with the outsourcing of non-core tasks in businesses, outsourcing domestic work is motivated by similar, yet different reasons, which have to do with the personal and private nature of domestic employment. This study aims to establish the reasons why “clients”, who were former employers of domestic servants, opted to outsource domestic work to a domestic cleaning service provider.Design/methodology/approachGiven the limited research on domestic cleaning services in South Africa, a mixed-methods research approach is used.FindingsThe findings showed that there are three key motivations: the nature of the domestic cleaning service supplier, the services rendered by domestic workers and the tripartite employment relationships. These three benefits imply that clients have access to functional and numerical flexibility, unlike employing a domestic worker directly. This study contributes to the literature on outsourcing and domestic work by showing that clients not only look to change the economic structure of the relationship with domestic workers, but it allows them to psychologically and emotionally distance themselves from domestic workers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that some people are no longer willing to have a relationship with the people who clean their homes, and that they believe it is simply not worth the effort to maintain a relationship. This is an aspect that needs further research, as this is the one sphere where women are united in their plight, albeit from different worldviews. Thus, a limitation is that this study only focuses on clients' views of outsourcing. Have domestic workers employed by the outsourced domestic cleaning service supplier become just like assembly-line workers, where they are anonymous to their clients, performing routine tasks with little recognition from those whose homes they are servicing? Future studies could focus on domestic workers' views on outsourcing and the effects it has on their working conditions and employment relations.Originality/valueFirstly, studies mainly focus on the Global North where domestic work and outsourcing have different dynamics, regulation policies and social changes when compared to South Africa. Secondly, few studies have sought to establish why people shift from employing a domestic or care worker directly to an outsourced domestic agency when direct domestic help is available and affordable. Considering these shortcomings, this study aims to provide a better understanding of domestic cleaning service suppliers from the perspective of clients, often omitted from the literature. Accordingly, this study aimed to establish what the benefits are for clients (former employers of domestic workers) who use domestic cleaning service suppliers.

“We cannot discriminate against someone without an eye or a leg … But I do look at obesity”: Statistical discrimination and employers’ recruitment strategies at housecleaning service companies in Johannesburg

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
David Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Recruitment Strategies ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Recruitment Process ◽  
Demographic Profile ◽  
Job Seeking ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Personal Skills

The landscape of paid domestic work has changed considerably in recent years with the growth in the number of housecleaning service companies in South Africa and elsewhere. Housecleaning service companies transform domestic work into a service economy where trained domestic workers render a professional cleaning service to clients. In South Africa, little is known about the factors that employers at housecleaning service companies take into consideration during the selection and recruitment process. A key feature of paid domestic work is the gender, class and race constructions of domestic workers, the vast majority of whom are women, usually women of colour, from low socio-economic backgrounds. Whether we are seeing a change in the demographic profile of domestic workers with the growth of housecleaning service companies remains unclear. This paper therefore focuses on the recruitment strategies of employers at selected housecleaning service companies in Johannesburg in an attempt to shed light on the challenges that jobseeking domestic workers may face. Open-ended interviews with managers revealed that gender, race, age, long-term unemployment, and technical and personal skills of job-seeking domestic workers have a strong impact on the recruitment process, while immigration status plays a somewhat reduced role. This paper concludes that housecleaning service companies have not changed the demographic profile of domestic workers in South Africa yet, and that paid domestic work is still predominantly a black woman’s job.

Paid domestic work and outsourcing in South Africa: Clients’ views on trust, control and power relations

2021 ◽  
pp. 001139212110560
Author(s):  
David du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Household Cleaning ◽  
Depth Interviews

Outsourced domestic cleaning service suppliers reconfigure the bipartite employment relationship between employers and domestic workers into a tripartite one between clients (former employers of domestic workers), the management or franchise owners, and domestic employees. While this transformation is attractive to some, outsourcing domestic work involves more than the outsourcing of physical tasks of household cleaning. It also involves the outsourcing of the employment relationship where trust, control and power relations are passed on to the management of the domestic cleaning service suppliers. By taking trust, control and power relations as being reconfigured through outsourcing, this article debates why such reconfiguring might not be convenient for some. By doing this, trust, control and power are conceptualised and how it is perpetuated in a bipartite and tripartite domestic employment relationship. By drawing on 16 in-depth interviews with former clients of a domestic cleaning service supplier in South Africa, this article illustrates that perhaps outsourced domestic services are not an appropriate solution to everyone’s domestic cleaning needs and that some clients expect a particular relationship that is not achieved through outsourcing.

scholarly journals The use of mixed-methods research to diagnose the organisational performance of a local government

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin H. Olivier
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Orientation: The majority of local governments in South Africa are underperforming; a first step to improve their performance is to accurately diagnose their current functioning. The utilisation of a mixed-methods approach for this diagnosis based on a valid model of organisational performance will form a better and holistic understanding of how a local government is performing.Research purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the utility of mixed-methods research as a diagnostic approach for determining the organisational performance of a local government in South Africa.Motivation for the study: The use of either quantitative or qualitative data gathering in isolation as part of an organisational diagnosis can lead to biased information and not identifying the root causes of problems. The use of mixed-methods research in which both quantitative and qualitative data gathering methods are utilised has been shown to produce numerous benefits, such as confirmation of gathered data, providing richer detail and initiating new lines of thinking. Such multiple methodologies are recognised as an essential component of any organisational diagnosis and can be an effective means of eliminating biases in singular data gathering methods.Research design, approach and method: A concurrent transformative mixed-methods strategy based on the Burke–Litwin model of organisational performance with triangulation of results and findings to determine convergence validity was used. A convenience sample of 116 (N = 203) permanent officials in a rural district municipality in South Africa completed a survey questionnaire and were also individually interviewed.Main findings: Results indicate that mixed-methods research is a valid technique for establishing the integrity of survey data and for providing a better and holistic understanding of the functioning of an organisation. The results also indicate that the Burke–Litwin model is a useful and valid diagnostic framework for identifying the strengths and development areas of an organisation’s performance. Finally, the results established the reliability and validity of the survey instrument used for gathering data.Practical and managerial implications: A mixed-methods research approach is a useful method to diagnose organisations’ performance to ensure data integrity and to obtain a comprehensive picture of an organisation’s performance. A further practical implication is that managers and practitioners can use the Burke–Litwin model as a basis for diagnosing the performance of an organisation with confidence, as it identifies the most important aspects of an organisation’s functioning.Contribution and value add: Organisational diagnoses are usually conducted by either quantitative or qualitative means, while the use of mixed-methods research is a relatively underutilised approach. This study aims to contribute to the availability of research approaches for diagnosing the performance of organisations.

scholarly journals The role of quantity surveyors in public–private partnerships in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoffie Cruywagen ◽  
Josephine Llale
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
South African ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Research Show

Background: Quantity surveyors play an important role in providing cost and contractual advice in the built environment. This article seeks to investigate the current extent of their involvement in public–private partnerships (PPPs) in South Africa.Aim: The study intends to establish factors that influence quantity surveyors’ participation in PPPs.Methodology: A mixed-methods research approach was followed by firstly conducting a survey amongst South African quantity surveyors in order to determine their level of participation in PPPs. For triangulation purposes, a case study was also conducted.Results: The results of the research show that, although quantity surveyors have the corresponding skills and competencies required in a PPP project, their current involvement in PPPs in South Africa is limited and that there is a greater role they can play in future.Conclusion: Quantity surveyors are uniquely positioned to play a bigger role in the implementation of PPPs in South Africa.

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