ILPC 2026

The retail industry in Chile, as well as globally, has gone through a deep  transformation processes in the last three decades, becoming one of the leading industries in terms of growth, employment generation,  economic power; and in a symbol of the neoliberal modernization of Chilean society. The following are observed in the industry (i) strong processes of capital investment, growth, consolidation and concentration of market rates in large national corporations (Cencosud, Ripley, SMU, Falabella), and international corporations (Wal Mart Chile); (ii) the development of information and communication technologies and new management systems (lean retailing and just in time production) that generated a logic of production and retailing based on the demand created by large companies in the retail industry; (iii) the introduction of numerical and functional flexibility in the stores; (iv) the creation of global supply networks; (v) the change in power relations from producers towards the retailers ; (vi) the development of new business niches in addition to the sale of products in stores: the real estate business, the financial business, sales of insurance and tourist packages, development of own brands; (vii) and the expansion of Chilean companies in different countries of Latin America (multilatinas). In this transformation context, it is observed, especially in the last decade, important changes in the productive model and working conditions within the stores in the large retail companies in Chile (Supermarket, Department Store, Home improvement). This paper presents a description of the restructuring process of the retail industry in Chile focusing on the main transformations of the production model within the stores. The way in which many of these changes have implied a precarization of the working conditions of the store workers is highlighted. The description presented is based on an empirical study (Project FONDECYT 11130095) carried out in the years 2014-2016 in the city of Santiago de Chile, in which 72 store employees (sellers, cashiers, operators, stock replenishers, security guards and cleaners) and 8 key informants from the industry (union leaders, researchers, professionals in the human resources area) were interviewed, and in which specialized literature on the Chilean retail industry was reviewed. The description is organized in the following axes : (i) Organization model of the company; (ii) Technological pattern; (iii) Profile of the work force, forms of employment and labor relations; (iv) organization of the work process, (v) Labor Cultures and daily life in the stores. Some of the main conclusions of this research indicate that (a) although the retail industry has generated a large volume of formal employment for low-skilled workers (mainly young people and women), in the last decade the quality of employment and the work conditions have been getting more and more precarious; (b) The work process within the stores combines principles and innovations of flexible type, with strong processes of neotaylorización in certain stores sections; (c) Despite the enormous power from the corporations and strong anti-union practices, there is a strong and renewed trade union organization within the retail industry in Chile (where in many cases you can find women union leaders) that has managed to put certain limits on the processes of precarization of work in the retail stores; (d) there are differences in the way in which different groups of workers (according to sex, age, seniority, qualification, type of contract, store section, family responsibilities, nationality, etc.) understand and narrate their work experiences in the retail stores.