The Value of Work and Job Satisfaction
The world has transitioned into both complex and non-complex scenarios with people having various perceptions about job responsibilities. They link the type of job an individual holds to the amount of money they earn and the standard of living they afford. A substantial percentage of parents have the perception that a robust education background would land you a ‘perfect career’ in the corporate industry and it’s in a way the only path that they wish for their children (Crawfor, p.2). They have the picture of success depending on the available prestigious schools that instil knowledge on their children. This essay aims at setting straight that even the so-called dirty jobs provide a meaningful lifestyle to different individuals and all that matters is the satisfaction that an individual derives from the job they undertake. Therefore, it examines the basis for satisfying work and addresses whether job satisfaction is achievable without the help of larger social and economic systems.
Job Satisfaction and Accomplishment
According to Crawfor, job satisfaction relates to what makes an individual feel accomplished and as a mover of change in society. For example, when the author was actualizing his passion for repairing motorbikes, it happened that one day he accidentally dropped a feeler gauge of a Kawasaki Ninja into the crankcase. When he finally got his fingers into the feeler gauge and corrected the mistake, he felt like he cheated death and claims that it was the best feeling he ever had experienced in his life (p.7). This instance is a clear indication that job satisfaction is doing what you love, and it can bring unwarranted happiness through an individual’s life. A good job entails an area of action where an individual can put their best abilities down to work and view their impact in the world (p.11). Learning and internalizing the functioning of the job that an individual does prove the satisfaction that comes with it:
“How else can you explain the elation he gets when he identifies the root cause of some problem?” (p.7).
Better Pay and Alleviation from Poverty
According to Ehrenreich, satisfying jobs are the kind that offers better pay and alleviates people from poverty and provides them with a transition from one standard of living status to the next:
“For most women in poverty, in both good times and bad, the shortage of money arises largely from inadequate wages. When I worked on my book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, I took jobs as a waitress, nursing-home aide, hotel housekeeper, Wal-Mart associate, and a maid with a house-cleaning service. I did not choose these jobs because they were low-paying. I chose them because these are the entry-level jobs most readily available to women” (p.3).
It is a clear indication that most women got into the low-paying jobs not because it satisfied them but because they were the most readily available at the time. Ehrenreich talks about the poor people who were subjected to poverty by lack of standard education, improved health care, better dwelling places, practical training, and promising job opportunities (p.1). The people that suffered from extent grievous material deprivation, those who would not sustain their bills before the next paycheck, and those who could not always afford meals on their tables (p.2). Clawfor analyzes two different sets of people- those that worked through their careers from what they had learned in school and those who had opted for a different path to work on what they loved despite the trends set by society. However, they both try to unravel the basis of a satisfying job responsibility in the different perceptions of the world.
Work with Hands and Minimum Wage
Working with own hands does not necessarily warrant the categorization as a minimum wage worker. There are specific jobs that provide minimum wage but not because they are carried out with hands but because they are jobs that can easily be performed by anyone and they are readily available. According to Ehrenreich, jobs such as housekeeping maids, waitress, associates at supermarkets, and working as home aides were not taken for because of their low-paying rates but because they were the most readily available entry-level jobs for women (p.3). It’s a general perception that this kind of job should be graded on the minimum wage payment because they can easily be carried out by a majority but not because they involve the use of hands. According to Clawfor, not all manual workers earn minimum wages. A mechanic who specializes in fixing bikes would charge rates of up to $70 per hour depending on their expertise and their ped on repairing bikes (p.5). When fixing motorcycles, most of the work was completed manually but required an individual to have a high sense of critical thinking to comprehend different operations of the bikes. Again, according to Clawfor, not all minimum wage earners work with their hands as also those who work on less manual jobs:
“How was it that I, once a proudly self-employed electrician, had ended up among these walking wounded, a ‘knowledge worker’ at a salary of $23,000? I had a master's degree, and it needed to be used” (p.11).
Job Satisfaction Without Broader Systems
According to Clawfor, it is possible for individuals to acquire job satisfaction without the help of broader social and economic systems. Academic credentials would not guarantee a good job nor would huge businesses or robust government structures (p.11). It is evident that institutions such as trade unions only look at critical concerns like family leave and workplace safety, whereas management focuses on increased efficiency, but they do not in any way guarantee job satisfaction for individuals. The author had been through various economic and social institutions such as the education system but what he ended up doing to acquire job satisfaction was achieved with both self-assistance and with the help of a long-serving motorbike mechanic. It is a clear indication that an individual can bypass the support of the systems and achieve desired job satisfaction. According to a shop teacher, as cited by Clawfor, schools only created artificial learning environments for the students that they viewed as undeserving and contrived of their full engagement and attention. They failed to provide the opportunity for them to pick up knowledge through the hands thus maintaining the universe as distant and abstract (p.2).
Similarly, Ehrenreich supports that individuals can acquire job satisfaction without the help of social and economic systems. According to a view of politicians and intellectuals:
“Government programs could do nothing to help the poor because poverty arises from the twisted psychology of the poor themselves” (p.2).
It is a clear indication that the poor are responsible for their satisfaction by exploiting the available opportunities and not depending on institutions such as the government to offer comfort. It was later identified that poor single moms were the cause of the poverty theory as they offered a bad example to the kids they cared for. However, Ehrenreich calls upon the country to bring back the aspect of joint national responsibility to those regarded as poor amongst the citizens. The low-income earners such as office cleaners are termed as the philanthropists of the community (p.5). It is clear that both Clawfor and Ehrenreich are concerned about the value of work derived from different job responsibilities, and they recommend ways that the value of work would be enhanced. For example, the above call by Ehrenreich on the country. Clawfor, on the other hand, suggests that gifted students should be encouraged to learn trade even if it’s only in the summer to enhance hands-on experience before they get to run the activities of the country (p.12). Clawfor continues to call for a more entrepreneurial society with fewer managerial aspects that would minimize the type of problems caused when managers’ income is pegged on short-term goals of different systems.
Conclusion
Basing on the comprehension of the two essays, both authors have highlighted their concern on the value of work and ways that value would be achieved. The articles have supported to derive an idea of what each of the authors perceives as critical in meaning work meaningful and more specifically with Clawfor's article. Value satisfaction of individual workers would be improved in different ways such as imparting the knowledge of different fields depending on people’s skills. Again, working on creating an equitable living standard regardless of the type of job an individual performs. It would enable people to take on jobs that they will feel satisfied with despite the pay they get from them. Again, creating the right awareness about the jobs that require increased manual work as they are not always associated with minimum wages. This essay has examined the basis for work satisfaction and whether it is possible to achieve satisfaction without the help of huge social and economic systems.
Work Cited
Crawfor, Matthew B. "The Case for Working with Your Hands". The New York Times Magazine, 2009, Accessed 11 Nov 2018.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. "It Is Expensive To Be Poor". The Atlantic, 2014, http://https: I /www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/ 2014/01 /it-is-expensive-to-be-poor/282979/. Accessed 11 Nov 2018.
