Why do people work?
Work is a big part of people’s lives. There’s also a lot of social expectation that people will work. Why?
What is ‘work’?
‘Work’ is a hard word to define. One person’s idea of work can be another person’s idea of leisure. Something that you dislike doing at work, you might quite enjoy in a leisure setting.
Most dictionary definitions of the word ‘work’ say that work activity is directed at a specific purpose, and involves mental or physical effort.
Is work still work if you don’t get paid for it? People work productively in all areas of life without being paid; unpaid work is estimated to be equal to approximately half of Australia’s total gross domestic product (GDP). This unpaid work includes:
- housework in households, child care and shopping for the home
- volunteer and community work
- work done free of charge (favours for others).
Why work?
When you ask people why they work, a lot of them will say they’re ‘only in it for the money’. When you work for money, you can be financially independent, and have some control over your life.
Sometimes money truly is the only reason a person works. But most people have more substantial reasons for working. For example:
- They like to spend their days doing something they’re good at.
- They like being productive.
- Other people need their skills, and they feel obliged to supply them.
What if you didn’t work and you had every day to yourself? You could choose to go to the beach, watch television, go to the movies, go shopping, read books, visit friends, visit places of interest, go out for meals, play sport…
This all sounds wonderful, but you’d need at least some money to do most of these things. Relaxing and doing what you please is great for a holiday, but after a while the pleasure can wear off and you can feel aimless and bored.
Your way of life depends on work
What would happen if no-one worked? How would we all survive? The goods and services we need to live and enjoy in our leisure time simply couldn’t exist. For example, if you needed to catch a bus:
- Who would design and construct the bus?
- Who would supply the petrol for the bus?
- Who would drive the bus?
If you wanted to read a newspaper:
- Who would write the articles and take the pictures for it?
- Who would make the paper to print it on?
- Who would print it?
- Who would distribute it, and how?
Most Western societies are set up so that we buy essentials like water, food, clothing and shelter, rather than providing them for ourselves individually. We also need things like electricity and transport. Just to exist costs money, and to do any kind of activity will involve costs. Most of us work to meet those costs.
Work and your values
The benefits you get from paid and unpaid work are strongly linked to what your values are. When you know what your values are regarding work, you can:
- work out what you hope to achieve through working—what your overall ambitions are
- set meaningful goals for yourself
- choose jobs that will satisfy you in ways that are deeper than your ‘hip pocket’
- understand why you feel dissatisfied in a job that doesn’t fit with your values.
The two main reasons that people work are:
- to perform rewarding and meaningful activities
- for companionship.
‘Rewarding’ and ‘meaningful’ work is work that allows you to:
- fulfil most of your material needs
- meet your financial obligations
- feel as if you fit into and contribute to society
- feel a sense of well-being and accomplishment
- meet and interact with people of different backgrounds and cultures.
‘Companionship’ at work means having continued, shared interaction with other people, including sharing the rewards of a job well done, whether they be a sales bonus or a commendation from the managing director.
Job satisfaction
Rewarding and meaningful work + companionship = job satisfaction
People get job satisfaction when their work:
- pays them enough to fulfil their most important needs
- pays them fairly for the work they do
- looks after them, providing a protective environment and ensuring their safety as they work.
- gives them a social life—they belong to a team and interact regularly with different people
- makes them feel good about themselves—they can see themselves gaining experience, expertise, status and acknowledgement by their colleagues and superiors
- fulfils them—it gives them a sense of personal achievement by presenting them with new challenges, helping them grow and be creative
Why do you work? What about your friends and family?
Conduct your own research about why you work.
- Think about the reasons why you work. Write down everything you can think of, as each reason occurs to you.
- When you can’t think of any more, look at the list you’ve made and put the reasons in order from the most to the least important.
Interview five people you know and ask them why they work. Here are some questions you could ask them:
- What’s the purpose of work, for you?
- Why is work important in your life?
- What happens when you work? What would happen if your job didn’t get done?
- How did you prepare for your career?
- In your opinion, who does the work that’s most valuable to society?
- Why are some jobs valued more highly than others? Why are some people paid more? Why do some jobs get more respect?
- What jobs seem more important than others?
- Are there jobs that men are better suited to? Jobs that women do better than men?
- What jobs are better done by younger people? By older people?
- Do you dress in a particular way to go to work? Why?
- What tools do you use in your workplace?
