Paper short abstract:

The goal of the paper is to present the constitutive role of meetings in the work of the white collar staff employed at a multinational corporation located in the Special Economic Zone in southwestern Poland.

Paper long abstract:

In today's large companies the activity of white collar workers is structured around various meetings that form the framework of their everyday performance. While the time in between is mostly spent by the worker (and the machine) alone and is dedicated to interpreting and analyzing data, preparing reports and doing paper work, meetings give an opportunity to perform and present the outcomes of their daily struggles. The importance of the "institution of meeting" is directly reflected in the architecture of the building. Apart from open space, where individual work takes place, there is a number of closed conference rooms, mostly occupied by debating teams. Meetings are also held in virtual spaces which, in multinational corporations, gather employees from all around the world. And as the headset is one of the most important pieces of equipment used by the white collar staff, the laborers remain in constant readiness to attend such teleconferences. Meetings in large companies play multiple roles: they mobilize workers to increase their productivity and accountability and become spaces for negotiation, where different points of view and interests clash. Based on ethnographic research carried out in one of the production plants in southwestern Poland, the aim of the paper is to present various forms of staff meetings and reflect on their function.