Exercising agency through the internal conversation: responses to extreme work in the Chinese tech industry

This article explores how professionals in the Chinese tech industry reflect on their career progression in extreme work contexts where previous research suggests that individual agency is limited. Drawing on Archer’s concept of the internal conversation, it explores the extent of employees’ active agency in reflecting on extreme work contexts in relation to their ultimate concerns about life. Qualitative analysis shows that some interviewees display fractured reflexivity, where they experience extreme work demands as overwhelming, resulting in passive agency. Others engage in more active reflexive modes, where they reflect on their career choices and project forward to explore who they are and how their careers are progressing. We show how changes in the Chinese tech industry are leading some professionals to practice active reflexivity as they navigate their changing social context. Our analysis also highlights how experiences of extreme work provoke them to reflect their ultimate concerns, which in turn affect career decision-making. These insights contribute to HRM and career studies by showing how extreme work can provoke reflexive processes through which individuals reassess their career progression, exercise agency and pursue meaningful life projects, even in contexts where agency is widely considered constrained.