[Opinion | The Case Against Loving Your Job - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-sarah-jaffe.html) tl;dr: The Great Resignation reveals workers' frustration with worsening work conditions, moral injury, and the false promise of finding meaning in their jobs, prompting a reconsideration of work's role in our lives and a demand for better work-life balance. The number of workers quitting their jobs in the US has surged, fueled by the pandemic and resulting in the Great Resignation and labor strikes. Workers are demanding not just higher wages, but also better work-life balance and improved conditions. The shift to a service-oriented society has led to the pervasive "labor of love" myth, pressuring workers to find meaning and identity in their jobs even as conditions worsen. The pandemic has prompted a broader reevaluation of work and its role in our lives, particularly for elite white-collar workers. The culture of solidarity constructed through labor activism in the past has dwindled due to the decline of unions, and racialized disparities affect workers unequally. Moral injury, experienced when one's sense of purpose and moral beliefs collide with the reality of their jobs, is prevalent across industries. A more just economy for workers may require the public to relinquish cheap goods and quick service, redistribute work, and create more space for leisure and non-work activities. The pandemic has demonstrated that change is possible, but achieving a better future will require a fight for improved health, safety provisions, and policies that value non-work activities. Notes: - A record number of workers have quit their jobs in the US, leading to the Great Resignation and a wave of labor strikes. - The pandemic has played a role in workers' attitudes towards their jobs, with workers realizing that their bosses don't care if they get sick or die. - The pandemic has accelerated trends of work getting worse for most people that have been happening for the past 40 years. - Workers are demanding not only higher wages but also better work-life balance. - Many workers view the labor of love ideology as a scam and false promise, expecting work to be a source of identity and meaning in their lives. - Despite the optimistic story in the media about a quitter's market and America getting its mojo back, workers' actual experiences of quitting their jobs or going on strike have a different tone and are driven by a sense of life cannot go on like this. - Workers are demanding better work conditions, not just higher wages. - The "labor of love" ideology is viewed as a false promise. - Workers' experiences of quitting their jobs or going on strike are driven by a sense of life cannot go on like this. - The culture of solidarity built through organizing in the past is lacking due to decades of attacks on unions. - There is a racialized pandemic affecting workers unequally. - Emotional labor, such as dealing with abusive customers, is a significant part of these jobs. - The entitlement to service is ingrained in American society and tied to the idea of freedom. - The public may not be willing to give up cheap goods and quick service for a more just economy for workers. - The current labor market is marked by a widespread frustration with work across industries. - There is a pervasive myth of the labor of love that has become ingrained in the economy, which pressures workers to love their jobs but gives less back. - A shift from a manufacturing to a service-oriented society has changed the culture of work and workers' norms. - Productivity innovations in areas like warehousing and delivery involve squeezing workers harder. - The innovations are often dependent on physical human labor and are disguised as high-tech. - American consumerism is entwined with the unconscious mandate to ignore the brutal reality of low-wage labor that makes cheap goods and quick service possible. - The pandemic has prompted a broader reconsideration of work and its role in our lives, especially with elite white-collar workers. - The labor of love emerged with the shift from industrial capitalism to a service-oriented society, where workers were expected to smile and keep customers happy. - The norm of the labor of love seeped into all sectors of the economy. - The culture of solidarity built through labor activism in the past is lacking due to decades of attacks on unions. - Racialized disparities in the pandemic affect workers unequally, and emotional labor is a significant part of these jobs. - The entitlement to service is ingrained in American society and tied to the idea of freedom. - A challenge to making workers' lives better is the public's unwillingness to give up cheap goods and quick service for a more just economy for workers. - The culture of work in America has shifted to viewing work as a mode of identity production, calling, vocation, and life's purpose. - Young people feel duped as they were promised a career that not only sustained them but that they would love and make a meaningful difference in the world, but the social contract they were told existed has been breached. - The pressure to love one's job has increased, while the conditions of work are objectively getting worse, which leads to burnout. - The concept of "moral injury" may extend to the burnout experienced by workers among all industries, in which an individual's sense of purpose, identity, and moral beliefs clash with the reality of their job. - The system is designed not to care for patients, or to create better learning conditions for students, but to make money for companies unknowingly supported by the public's unwillingness to give up cheap goods and quick service for a more just economy for workers. - The concept of "moral injury" applies to professions like doctors, teachers, nurses, social workers, public defenders, and labor reporters. - It is about the transgression of one's moral beliefs, identity, and moral core. - Millennials and Gen Zers feel that their work should have an impact and contribute to something bigger. - This results in a distinct form of suffering when work does not align with one's expectations. - This includes cognitive, emotional, moral dissonance, existential anguish, identity crisis, and spiritual malaise. - The moral injury can apply to all workers when their moral compass clashes with the harsh realities of profit and efficiency. - Jobs in consulting, finance, and the arts can lead to moral injury. - The system is designed to make money for companies rather than caring for patients, creating better learning conditions for students, or promoting a just economy for workers. - Work can lead to moral injury when it does not align with one's expectations - This includes cognitive, emotional, moral dissonance, existential anguish, identity crisis, and spiritual malaise - The moral injury can apply to all workers when their moral compass clashes with the harsh realities of profit and efficiency - Jobs in consulting, finance, and the arts can lead to moral injury - The system is designed to make money for companies rather than caring for patients, creating better learning conditions for students, or promoting a just economy for workers - Work should not be expected to provide meaning, as the system is designed to pay less than workers are worth - Work needs to take less space in our lives to make it better for all - We need more time off, childcare, housing, and the ability to take care of ourselves - Making life better for all can be achieved without having to think about whether we like our jobs or not. - Finding meaning in work is either not possible or not desirable for most people - We need free time to find meaning outside of work - American institutions where people used to locate meaning and fulfillment have declined, leaving a vacuum of purpose and identity that work has come to fill - The pandemic gave people time to relearn the art of leisure and find meaning outside of work - Unemployment is stressful because of the punitive system and the pressure to find a job, but the experience could be different with livable Social Security payments - We need to redistribute work to make life better for all and make work take less space in our lives. - American institutions that used to provide meaning and fulfillment have declined - Work has filled the vacuum of purpose and identity left by declining institutions - The pandemic gave people time to rediscover the value of leisure and find meaning outside of work - Unemployment is stressful due to social stigma and economic pressure, but could be different with livable Social Security payments - High earners work more than ever due to societal pressure that values productivity and efficiency above all else - Neoliberalism was a project of undoing social solidarity and valuing productivity over everything else - Public policy changes can redistribute work to make life better and create more space for leisure and non-work activities - Workers have the power to demand change through striking and demanding better working conditions - The pandemic has shown that different things are possible and we have the potential to create a better future, but it will require a fight. - Societal pressure values productivity and efficiency over all else, leading to overwork and burnout - Neoliberalism values productivity over social solidarity and creates a need for multiple jobs to make ends meet - Public policy changes can redistribute work to create more space for leisure and non-work activities, such as a basic income - Workers have the power to demand change through striking and demanding better working conditions - The pandemic has shown that a better future is possible, but it will require a fight for better health and safety provisions and policies that value non-work activities.