Meaningful Work is Essential for Survival

Meaningful Work is Essential for Survival
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Article Link: /2023/02/16/why-some-young-laid-off-workers-arent-rushing-to-find-new-jobs.html
Meaningful Work is Essential for Survival
The re-occurring theme in the five chapters is the importance of meaningful work in employees’ and organizational survival. Weitzner (2021) notes that spiritual work is characterized by meaning, cooperation, and creativity. As such, work must be meaningful to ensure employees are not exploited, as in a capitalist system. Yet, a lack of meaningful work has been a challenge in the current workforce. Many people want to find meaning in their work and workplaces, so some employers have incorporated mindfulness as a strategy for creating meaning at work. Working adults spend a lot of their time at work and, as such, are bound to ask what their contribution is. They also need to know that they are receiving a return on investment. But, Weitzner (2021) posits that using mindfulness to find or create meaning at work might not be the best strategy. Whether this is true or not, it remains evident that creating or finding meaningful work is an elusive endeavor. A recent CNBC news article by Liu (2023) revealed that most laid-off workers felt at peace and relieved after losing their jobs and are now more focused on pursuing meaningful work. Some employees were already experiencing burnout and stress, and the layouts were wake-up calls for them to pursue more fulfilling careers, even outside of formal employment. They are risking earning lower income so that they can have meaningful careers. According to Achor et al. (2018), 90% of employees across different age groups are willing to earn less in exchange for meaningful work. People are more concerned about the impact of their work on society, which indicates there is potential for large social change. Thus, organizations must find ways to ensure their employees experience meaningfulness at work. However, what is considered meaningful work varies across employees, making it difficult for employers to truly create meaningful work. Organizations that are unable to provide meaningful work risk losing talent and overall productivity. Although the definition of meaningful work varies across the workforce, organizations must create meaningful work to improve employee well-being and organizational outcomes.
The pursuit of meaningful work is beneficial to employees, organizations, and the larger society. However, the creation of meaningful work hinges on how employees define or view meaningful work. Organizations cannot create meaningful work for employees if they do not understand what employees consider meaningful work. For instance, different generations across the workforce define meaningful work differently. According to Weeks and Schaffert (2019), millennials, who are also referred to as Generation Y, define meaningful work as one that provides them with fulfillment, a sense of connectedness, and personal happiness. It also challenges them and allows them to help others. Thus, for them, jobs that will enable them to interact with others while directly offering help would be meaningful. Generation X believes th...