Good workers’ and the moulding of employee voice and silence in Big 4 firms

B McCarthy; M O'Sullivan; E Doyle; J.A Ballantine

doi:10.1111/irj.70006

Good workers’ and the moulding of employee voice and silence in Big 4 firms

B McCarthy
, M O'Sullivan
, E Doyle
, J.A Ballantine

University of Limerick

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article examines voice and silence on workplace problems in Big 4 professional service firms. Based on interviews in Ireland, workers reported problems in relation to workload and hours, underperforming colleagues, mistreatment, pay, leave time, and promotion. Silence was the dominant response reflecting workers' implicit understanding of organisationally desired worker attributes. Where voice occurred, it was individual and informal. Our analysis places voice as a site of antagonistic worker-management relations, and we contribute to the emerging labour process critique of employee resilience as a tool of management control.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	451-460
Number of pages	10
Journal	Industrial Relations Journal
Volume	56
Issue number	6
Early online date	9 Jul 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70006
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 30 Nov 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Industrial Relations Journal published by Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

voice
silence
problems
labour process
good worker

Access to Document

10.1111/irj.70006

Industrial Relations Journal - 2025 - McCarthy - Good Workers and the Moulding of Employee Voice and Silence in Big 4Final published version, 171 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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AB - This article examines voice and silence on workplace problems in Big 4 professional service firms. Based on interviews in Ireland, workers reported problems in relation to workload and hours, underperforming colleagues, mistreatment, pay, leave time, and promotion. Silence was the dominant response reflecting workers' implicit understanding of organisationally desired worker attributes. Where voice occurred, it was individual and informal. Our analysis places voice as a site of antagonistic worker-management relations, and we contribute to the emerging labour process critique of employee resilience as a tool of management control.

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Good workers’ and the moulding of employee voice and silence in Big 4 firms

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this