Friday 15 January 2010

What happens to us when we go to work?



My enhanced disclosure has now been processed. I'm now able to start in a workplace. At this stage I have no idea where it will be. I have been making contacts and talking to people in the city who might be able to recommend a good placement.



Last week, I spent a morning in a busy open plan office of a 'care' charity based in Dundee. The organisation has about 160 employees in the Dundee area. The majority of the workforce are working away from the office providing care in the community. There were twelve workers carrying out administration, organisation and management tasks.
What struck me was the impersonal aspect of these modern open plan offices. I got interested in how people personalise their work stations. I wondered what happens to personal identity when individuals become workers? These are the sort of questions I imagine will be relevant to Pippa Kosterek's project, Pippa's second trade is secretary.

Oddly the Central Library has been tipped as a possible placement. I'd never had considered it but Stuart Murdoch Director of Leisure and Communities suggested we check it out as they do a lot of outreach work to encourage vulnerable groups and people to use the building. Whilst I'm not a librarian it would offer a good opportunity to engage with voluntary sector providers and individuals who engage with these services. I have a meeting with Judy Dobbie the Manager in the pipeline hopefully I can meet some of the library workers to see if they are interested in working with Nine Trades.