Work in a high tech company: a lacanian perspective on 'Orange'
Résumé
The "Denial" of the emotional vulnerability of employees in the context of suicides that were explicitly motivated by suffering in the workplace has been a subject for public debate in France during the last few years. Orange telecommunications company has been much concerned. The public discussion ended with a replacement of the Chairman, a significant change in the philosophy of work inside Orange and a stop to painful restructuring processes. It is time now to try to get a deeper understanding and to propose a vision of the future of work in such a context. I do not share the critical vision of work as a "voluntary servitude" (works of Christophe Dejours). This is why Lacan seems to be a pertinent theorist if I want to analyze and try to predict the future of work in a high tech organization : work is connected with desire. High Tech organizations are very innovative in terms of services and technologies. I show how a comprehensive analysis of the subject at work should be related to the 3 fundamental dimensions that Jacques Lacan has identified : real, imaginary and symbolic. I will then try to answer two questions : (1) how the excesses of a managerial vision dominated by the cost of labor could destroy the emotional capital, creativity and ultimately the symbolic order of the organization itself. (2) How could a Lacanian perspective on high tech organizations be helpful in the future for companies facing a high degree of "creative destruction" in the context of rapid technological innovation.