Changes in the meaning of work

With relative frequency the media echoes the lack of people to perform certain jobs. It is easy to meet press reviews that indicate the existence of an employee deficit in the field of new technologies, in the health field, or in agricultural and industrial tasks. And at the same time, it is reported that there are a large number of people who increase unemployment data, while hundreds of thousands of jobs are vacant due to lack of people who are willing to perform them.

This situation, which seems paradoxical, can be explained, at least in part, from the scope of behavior sciences. The changes operated on the importance attributed by people to work, in their lives, allows to offer a plausible explanation of the mismatch between the supply and demand of jobs. Although there are multiple reasons and explanations that can be given to the effect, we intend to echo some contributions that are being made in this field From the field of behavioral sciences.

In this online psychology article we will discover the changes in the meaning of work So you understand how today is.

1. Incorporation to work
2. Importance granted to work
3. Standards and beliefs about work
4. Labor values
5. Most widespread labor values
6. Changes in the meaning of work
7. Conclusions

Incorporation to work

People attribute to work a meaning that we have acquired throughout the process through which we adopt the sociocultural elements of our environment and integrate them into the personality to adapt to the society to which we belong, known as socialization.

TheBasic Labor Ocialization It is a process through which we adopt a set of values, beliefs, attitudes and norms that society transmits to its members in relation to work. The meaning attributed to work includes a set of beliefs and values ​​that individuals develop throughout the labor socialization process.

This set of beliefs and values ​​undergoes modifications based on personal experiences and the different situations that each individual has to face. That is, they are established through education in childhood and adolescence and have a lasting effect on personality; But individuals adapt and modify them throughout their lives as different phases and situations live (Drenth, 1991).

Studies conducted for this purpose have identified (Gracia et als., 2001) as the main components of the meaning of work the following: centrality and importance granted to work, norms or beliefs on it (MOW, 1987) and labor values, which we will describe below.

Importance granted to work

We all grant different Importance to work within our life. Thus, we hear expressions such as: "central interest of life", "involvement with the position", "relevance of the career", "relevance of work", "commitment to work", and other similar, which only do only Determine the degree with which a person identifies with his work and to what extent this is central to their identity.

It assumes that, in some way, we value work, and the comparative weight it has with other spheres of our life, such as family, free time, or leisure. Work centrality is a belief of people regarding the position of work in their lives, and the attitudinal and behavioral implications for their performance. Therefore, It is variable between some people and others, and even different at each stage of a person's life.

Standards and beliefs about work

When we do people Equivals on work, We make statements from the perspective of the individual and society. Those beliefs that we explain, show cultural values ​​and may vary between cultures and countries. But in general, two major positions reflect: the consideration of work with a right or as a duty.

By expressing ourselves, we express the beliefs that as members of society We maintain the obligations and rights of the worker, and on the obligations and rights of society regarding the world of work. Such positions are independent and not alternative, since we can agree with the consideration of work as a right and also as a duty.

The belief of work as a obligation of the individual regarding society, It assumes that work must be valued regardless of its nature, since it is a means through which it contributes to the proper functioning of society and must be ensured by future security through savings. It means agreeing with statements such as "it is the duty of each citizen to contribute to society with their work", "a person must assess his work even if he is boring or monotonous", "people should save part of their income for their income for their future".

The work conceived as a right It would materialize in the opinions of people who think that any member of society not only has the right to have a job, but an interesting and meaningful job, to participate in the decisions concerning it, to an education that prepares it properly for him and to the update of their knowledge, when they were outdated. This new vision emerges in the last 60s, within the framework of a general change of values ​​in Western societies and has a much broader reach, mostly displacing work as an obligation as an obligation.

Labor values

The second concept involved in the study of the meaning of work is that of labor values. In general, a value is a conception that a person and/or a group have of the desirable aspects that influence the selection of modes, means and purposes available to carry out an action (Rockeach, 1973). By extension, labor values ​​refer to What aspects or characteristics of the work are important for a person And I would prefer to find in your work.

Some authors (among others, Broedling, 1977) distinguish between an intrinsic and an extrinsic assessment.

• The first, intrinsic, It would be the one caused in the individual by characteristic aspects of the activity itself, motivating for themselves, and that fall under the control of the subject; that is, all related to motivating aspects of the content of the task, its variety and importance. In that case, the activity is an end in itself and is an expressive, valued and satisfactory activity for the person.
• The Extrinsic assessment It would be caused by the independent rewards or incentives of the subject's own activity and whose control depends on external events. It leads to the individual to assess certain aspects of the context of work, whether salary, interpersonal relationships or work stability. In this case, we would be facing a work activity carried out to obtain benefits, it is not an end in itself, but a means to obtain an end. The activity acquires an instrumental character and is performed by a subject, because it provides economic income.

Most widespread labor values

The experience experienced, from a comparative perspective, by labor values ​​in a Spanish sample over a decade, has been important, as García Montalvo et als. (1997) indicate in their work. The results show that the most valued aspects at work are: the income, employment safety and good colleagues of work.

From the subsequent analysis of the data of the different valuations, two aspects arise, when assessing the work: one, relating to aspects of personal development and, the second, groups the aspects related to the material conditions, this being the most the most valued.

Comparing the results in a temporary perspective, the loss of commitment to work is verified, with the consequent departure from the objectives of Personal self -realization at work, importing less social utility functions of the same. Personal self -realization is reserved to other areas other than work, although working conditions are the basic support of the social actions that undertake outside the same.

By genres, Men tend to demand more work than women, And they present a greater motivation for the aspects related to labor values, especially the youngest. They value less employment safety and value holidays more. They value little work well considered, with social prestige, and pay more attention to a good personal relationship, with a pleasant work environment and deal with people. They indicate that young people are the ones who most pursue the personal development factor, while the group of 55 to 64 years, remains concerned about material conditions.

Changes in the meaning of work

It seems obvious that labor values ​​will be formed through contact with labor reality. Contact with work will allow young people to learn to value certain results or characteristics of it with greater realism and prefer them ahead of others, so they will present a more situational and dynamic character, especially in the first years of employment. When joining a work activity, whatever this is, there is a confrontation between the values ​​of the young man and the demands of the organization, and between their expectations and the reality of the work world.

They will occur changes in the individual and in the organization, In an attempt by both parties to obtain an optimal adjustment, either by the change or the other party. The Study of Gracia and its collaborators (2001), referring to the changes operated in the components of the work in the first years, point out that negatively affect the meaning among young people.

In his words: “There is a decrease in the centrality of work and in the consideration of work as a duty, and an increase in the value that they grant to extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of work. That is, during the first years of employment, the importance they grant to work in their lives has decreased in young people, and the degree according to a whole series of obligations that perceive that as workers can have in relation to the world of work.

On the contrary, The value they grant to most characteristics has increased That can have a job, that is, they give more value to the compensation they can receive for doing a job, surely because they have found that this is less satisfactory than they expected, as a way to restore equity ”(p. 216). Along the same lines are the data offered. Free time and stability, are the main labor values ​​among young people, relegating to the seventh place economic remuneration for the workplace performed.

Enjoy weekend free time is the priority for young people, while the possible social benefit derived from their professional work is a factor that is barely taken into account. However, the aforementioned, grace and collaborators, highlight as a conclusion that, nothing indicates that the meaning of the work is configured during childhood and remains unalterable for the rest of life, but that each of the meanings can vary, and in different magnitude.

Alert about the importance of organizations and society taking care of the characteristics of the work offered to young people, To the extent that precariousness can cause changes of guidelines favorable to other unfavorable, and vice versa, and even the loss of troops discouraged by working conditions.

Conclusions

In short, it seems clear that There is a mismatch Among the jobs that the economic system of the company offers and what the job seekers seek. Part of this situation can be explained by the changes operated in the meaning of work for the subjects of working age, according to the results obtained from their study and consistent in the sample internationally studied.

The importance granted and beliefs on work, as as the right of the individual or as a duty of society, and the extrinsic or intrinsic assessment we make of our jobs, vary from some subjects to another, or even in each individual, to what long time.

The mismatch between what people expect from an activity and what an organization offers us when incorporating into it can explain that vacant jobs are left, due to lack of people willing to perform it. It is important, especially in the first work experiences, pay attention to adequate labor socialization, as indicated by the evolution experienced by work assessment.

Loss of commitment to work or Personal self -realization through work activity, They often seem to give way to concern about material conditions (salaries, vacations, days off, schedules, etc.), Among the people to whom their opinion is requested. These same people indicate that their personal self -realization is reserved to other areas other than work (free schedule, in union of the group of friends and people of their age, carrying out pleasant, leisure, etc.).

The work becomes valued in terms of material support to carry out the social actions that are undertaken outside or outside the same.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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