Ethics of Meaningful Work

Synonyms

Humanistic human resource management; Meaningful jobs; Well-being at work

Introduction

Meaningful work is perhaps best understood in contrast to useless toil. The dangers of repetitive, thoughtless work were noted by Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations (1970 [1776]) and by Karl Marx in Das Kapital (1976 [1867]). They saw how such work took away autonomy and left workers unsatisfied. The ancient Greek poet Homer provided an even earlier example in the Odyssey where Sisyphus is found at an endless task, pushing a stone uphill only to have it run back down to be pushed up once more (Camus 1955). Many people in contemporary industrial societies work at repetitive jobs. Thus, “meaningful work,” work that does not involve human depredation, is widely seen as desirable, although there is little agreement on a formal definition or on its characteristics.

In one sense, meaningful work is work that helps to give meaning to human life. This suggests that there is more to meaningful work...