Indexing traditional and modern professional values

Abstract Traditional professional values are complemented by more modern ones in the “New Work Order”-context, roughly marking a shift from hierarchy to (seeming) egalitarianism and from formality to informality. We investigate the pragmatic uses of T/V-pronouns in job interviews in relation to this transformation. More particularly, we zoom in on the Flemish case, which is especially rich, given that next to V-forms, there is a double-barreled T-system with standard versus colloquial T-forms. Exploring twenty-one authentic job interviews using exploratory statistical techniques, we found that V-forms, emblematic of traditional values, are nearly absent in our data. In turn, the variation attested in the use of T-forms by recruiters highlights local meaning-making, prompting questions about the alignment of these forms with evolving indexical values and workplace norms.