Reshaped Employee Relations from Work Flexibility: A Study of Staffing Planning at a Swedish Pharmacy

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide an in-depth account of how the organising of work has been reshaped at a Swedish pharmacy in order to meet new demands of work flexibility set by a reconstructed and recently privatised industry. In its aftermaths, a paradox has surfaced, as different groups of employees at the site become increasingly dependent upon each other to perform their work tasks while the altered working conditions simultaneously make the workers less inclined to do so. Hence, the paradox nourishes a set of conflicts among employee groups that negatively affect employee relations, which is likely to comprise organisational implications for the pharmacy over time. Using the process of staffing planning as a point of departure, this paradox is unfolded as being shaped by the influence of the prioritising of work tasks as well as a reigning professional hierarchy at the site. By using an ethnographically inspired approach at a single Swedish pharmacy, this article presents locally bound insights in order to more thoroughly understand the effects from flexibility demands upon organisations.