Read Fast Company’s Labor Day Series on “Why Work Has Failed Us”

Photo by Hans Eiskonen (cropped) on Unsplash.

Labor Day, like most other holidays, has expanded beyond its original temporal boundaries (think of all those Labor Day sales that began, like, last Thursday) — and in honor of Labor Day Week, Fast Company is running a series of articles under the theme “Why work has failed us:”

Full-time employment in this country rests, at least theoretically, on an unspoken but well-understood deal. You work for 40 or more hours a week to help a company make more money. In exchange, the company will pay you enough so that you can afford a roof over your head (perhaps even on land that you own), will help subsidize the cost of caring for your health, give you enough to make a good life for your children, and–once you’ve given the good part of your life to your work–make sure you have enough money to live out the rest of your non-working days in relative comfort.

The series clarifies how — and why — each of these deals have fallen through. Here’s what’s been published so far:

• Why work has failed us: Because companies aren’t sharing the profits
• Why work has failed us: Because it’s making it impossible to start a family
• Why work has failed us: Having a job doesn’t mean you can afford a home

Read and discuss, and check back with Fast Company on Thursday and Friday for the two final articles in the series. (I’m betting one will be about healthcare and one will be about retirement.)

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.