TRANSFORMATIONS IN WORK 269
IT and computer technology found its way into the public service sec-
tor much more slowly. By the end of 1989, for example, only 22.5 percent
of all public libraries in the state of North Rhine Westphalia were clas-
sifi ed as “computer users.”^67 Yet the West German libraries were much
further on their way toward the implementation of IT and computer tech-
nology than their East German counterparts. It was not until after the
Wende that both library systems were fully and “thoroughly digitalized.”
Interestingly, the eff ects of the introduction and ever more intensive use
of IT technology overlapped with the simultaneous “managerialization”
(Verbetriebswitschaftlichung) of the libraries. For librarians, this was very
much a double-edged sword. From their point of view, however, the bad
outweighed the good in many respects. For one, digitalization seemed to
be a way to cut costs in light of municipal budget crises and university
budget cuts.^68 Branch closings, job cuts, shorter opening hours, tempo-
rary employment contracts, and the introduction of fl exible schedules
according to user frequency created a feeling of insecurity among librar-
ians; many of them complained about things such as “increasing stress”
and “personal productivity assessments,” or even “time allotments” for
certain tasks.^69
“Friendliness on Schedule” and McJobs:
Neo-Taylorization in the Service IndustryDigitalization also led to the creation of entirely new industries and, with
them, to the (neo) Taylorization of service jobs. The call centers that be-
gan popping up in the 1990s are one example of this phenomenon. The
number of people employed in them (usually in low-paid, temporary, and
part-time jobs) more than quadrupled from 45,000 in 1995 to over 225,000
in 2000, climbing up to 330,000 in 2005 and approximately 500,000 at
the end of 2009.^70 The actual job tasks vary according to structure of
the telephone calls that they make—that is, whether each call deals with
personalized requests or follows a basic pattern. The signifi cance of the
latter call type has been growing, especially since it lends itself well to
a Taylorist-style breakdown in tasks: calls are distributed automatically
and dealt with according to a specifi c time schedule. Unlike workers in
classic Fordist systems, who were kept in line by the running assembly
line but at least had the freedom to let their minds wander, call center
agents have to be mentally engaged in their work, and they are expected
to conduct themselves in a certain way. They have to discipline their feel-
ings and emotions. Of course, the controlling of aff ects has been just as
important for countless employees in the service sector as well. After all,
stores whose staff appear to be permanently bored, gruff , or incompetent