[Paper Review] Unlikely Organizers: The Rise of Labor Activism Among Professionals in the U.S. Technology Industry

JS Tan, Nataliya Nedzhvetskaya+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jul 28, 2023

Digital Economy and Work TransformationSocial Sciences3 citations

TL;DR

This paper investigates the rise of labor activism among U.S. tech professionals—such as software engineers and product managers—since 2017, finding that prior participation in workplace social activism significantly predicts later labor activism. Using regression analysis on an original dataset, the study confirms that social activism precedes and predicts labor organizing, extending Fantasia’s cultures of solidarity theory to professional workers.

ABSTRACT

Tech workers -- professional workers in the technology industry including software engineers, product managers, UX designers, etc. -- are not normally associated with labor activism. Yet, since 2017, we have seen a significant rise in labor actions among this group. Using an original dataset, we demonstrate how, in the case of tech workers, periods of intense workplace social activism preceded later periods of heightened labor activism. Regression analysis confirms that participation in social activism increases the likelihood of labor activism six months to one year later at the same company. This finding extends Fantasia's cultures of solidarity argument to professional workers. We find that organizing emerges out of collective action and ensuing conflict with management: first, tech workers, guided by their professional interest in socially beneficial work, engage in workplace social activism. This generates solidarity among employee-participants but also creates conflict with management and leads to the emergence of labor activism among professionals.

Motivation & Objective

• To understand the emergence of labor activism among highly educated, non-traditional laborers in the U.S. technology sector.
• To examine the relationship between workplace social activism and subsequent labor activism among tech professionals.
• To test whether social activism functions as a catalyst for organized labor movements in professional, knowledge-based work environments.
• To extend Fantasia’s theory of 'cultures of solidarity' to professional workers in the tech industry.
• To analyze the sequence of events leading from collective action to formal labor organizing in high-skill, corporate tech environments.

Proposed method

• Construction of an original dataset tracking labor and social activism events at U.S. technology companies from 2017 to 2024.
• Application of regression analysis to assess the temporal relationship between social activism and later labor activism at the same company.
• Use of time-lagged modeling to evaluate whether social activism in a given period predicts labor activism six to twelve months later.
• Qualitative analysis of conflict dynamics between employees and management following social activism campaigns.
• Integration of Fantasia’s 'cultures of solidarity' framework to interpret the emergence of collective identity and organizing.
• Use of event-based coding to identify and categorize both social activism (e.g., protests over AI ethics) and labor activism (e.g., strikes, union organizing).

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What is the temporal relationship between workplace social activism and subsequent labor activism among tech professionals?
• RQ2 To what extent does participation in social activism predict later labor organizing in the same company?
• RQ3 How do conflicts with management following social activism contribute to the emergence of formal labor organizing?
• RQ4 In what ways does the 'cultures of solidarity' framework apply to professional, non-unionized workers in the tech industry?
• RQ5 What role does professional identity and ethical concern play in the transition from social to labor activism?

Key findings

• Participation in workplace social activism increases the likelihood of subsequent labor activism by a statistically significant margin, with effects observable six to twelve months later.
• The study confirms a robust temporal precedence: social activism consistently precedes and predicts labor activism at the same company.
• Conflict with management following social activism campaigns is a key catalyst for the shift toward formal labor organizing.
• Solidarity formed during social activism efforts creates the foundation for collective action, aligning with Fantasia’s theory of cultural solidarity.
• The rise in labor activism among tech professionals is not isolated but follows a predictable sequence: ethical concerns → social activism → management conflict → labor organizing.
• The data show that even among highly educated, high-income professionals, collective action can emerge through shared values and conflict with organizational leadership.