The psychodynamics of recognition in informatics outsourced work at a public institution

Outsourced work has considerably increased in Brazil, being currently seen as one of the main approaches to reduce the expenses of companies. However, the recognition given to outsourced workers does not match their relevance for the organizations that employ them. According to "work psychodynamics" theory, recognition is a symbolic reward for physical, cognitive and affective investment; personal identity is shaped through the mediation of recognition.

The aim of the present study was to analyze employee recognition among IT outsourced workers at a public institution.

Three sessions of collective interviews were conducted, lasting two hours each. The data were analyzed by means of discourse interpretation and were categorized according to the following criteria: work organization, experiences of pleasure and suffering and dynamics of recognition.

Outsourced workers feel they are recognized by their peers and system users as a function of the visibility and usefulness of their activity. However, they do not feel appreciated by formally employed colleagues, namely, their bosses. These results corroborate some studies on socioeconomic fragility and precariousness conducted with outsourced workers.

Despite the lack of visibility of their work for a part of their colleagues, outsourced workers feel they are appreciated. The present study contributes to the advancement of research on work psychodynamics, as well as to overall considerations on management models and attitudes relative to the status of outsourcing within the public service setting.