Flexible Working in Modern Agoras: A Sociological Field Research

In this study, the ‘flexible work’ of sales employees who work at different shopping malls across Izmir, as an imperative aspect of their job, is examined. It is meaningful to look into this area across various academic disciplines as it will let researchers and readers understand the details of the working system at shopping malls in Turkey, which have become popular centers in the last decade, providing mall-goers with numerous activities such as shopping, food, entertainment, sports, education, hobbies and jobs.During the research, the researcher utilized a mixed methodology including questionnaires and in-depth interviews at eight shopping malls. After the pilot study was conducted at 2 shopping malls, 389 valid questionnaires were collected in the final phase of the research and 35 in-depth interviews were done. The fact that neoliberal economic policies are systematically exploiting employees by means of deunionization, flexibilization, precarity, and lawlessness has been supported by the findings of this work in terms of wages, working hours, social security, and other employment rights. The research findings show that the most important disadvantage that sales employees experience seems to be flexible work. The work regime of sales staff may consist of different types of flexible work, affecting employees’ work regime and social lives negatively