How Much Does Having a ‘Dream Job' Matter to You? - The New York Times

Is our society too obsessed with work? How important is work to a meaningful life, in your opinion?

Note to teachers: To go with this question, we have a related Lesson of the Day based on the article “How Do They Say Economic Recovery? ‘I Quit.’” Some of the questions we pose below are also asked there.

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What’s your dream job? Do you have one?

Do you hope to embark on a career that is central to who you are — or who you want to become? Or do you think that doesn’t matter as much as finding a job that allows work-life balance, perhaps so you have time to pursue other passions?

“Even a dream job is still a job,” Farhad Manjoo writes in this Opinion essay. As record numbers of workers quit their jobs, Mr. Manjoo ponders whether we should reconsider our relationship to paid work in general. He writes:

The world’s long-suffering workers have finally gained some measure of leverage over their bosses, and their new power is a glorious thing to behold.

In South Korea this week, tens of thousands of union members staged a one-day strike to demand better benefits and protections for temporary and contract workers. In Britain, where Brexit has contributed to severe shortages of goods and labor, Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has been taking dubious credit for what he calls a new era of higher pay.

And in the United States, a record nearly 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August, according to the Labor Department, and more than 10 million positions were vacant — slightly down from July, when about 11 million jobs needed filling. The shortage of workers has led to a growth in wages that has surpassed many economists’ expectations, and seems to have discombobulated bosses who are used to employees leaping at their every demand.

There are many potential reasons for workers’ reluctance to work terrible jobs. People who are flush with unemployment assistance and stimulus money might be holding out for better jobs to come along. Workers who spent the last year and half on the front lines of dangerous jobs in thankless industries — for instance, enforcing mask rules for belligerent customers in shops and restaurants — could be burned out by the experience. And many workers continue to fear for their health in an ongoing pandemic, while a lack of child and elder care has added costs and complications that have rendered many jobs just not worth the trouble.

All of this makes sense. But there might also be something deeper afoot. In its sudden rearrangement of daily life, the pandemic might have prompted many people to entertain a wonderfully un-American new possibility — that our society is entirely too obsessed with work, that employment is not the only avenue through which to derive meaning in life and that sometimes no job is better than a bad job.

“The pandemic gave us a kind of forced separation from work and a rare critical distance from the daily grind,” Kathi Weeks, a professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies at Duke University, told me. “I think what you’re seeing with people refusing to go back is a kind of yearning for freedom.”

Weeks, the author of “The Problem With Work,” is among a handful of scholars who have been pushing for a wholesale reappraisal of the role that work plays in wealthy societies. Their ideas have been dubbed “post-work” or “antiwork,” and although they share goals with other players in the labor market — among them labor unions and advocates for higher minimum wages and a stronger social safety net — these scholars are calling for something even grander than improved benefits.

They’re questioning some of the bedrock ideas in modern life, especially life in America: What if paid work is not the only worthwhile use of one’s time? What if crushing it in your career is not the only way to attain status and significance in society? What if electing to live a life that is not driven by the neuroses and obsessions of paid employment is considered a perfectly fine and reasonable way to live?

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

• Do you have a dream job in mind for yourself? If so, describe it. Why would it be perfect for you?

• What do you think about the idea of “dream jobs” in general? To what extent do you agree with this column’s suggestion that “employment is not the only avenue through which to derive meaning in life”? How important is work to a meaningful and purposeful life, in your opinion?

• Do you think that our society is overly focused on work? Why or why not?

• Have you had a job before? If so, what was the experience like? Was it fulfilling? Well-paid? Boring? Did you ever think of quitting? Or do you generally think it’s more important to stick it out, even if a situation is not always perfect?

• Even if you don’t have a dream job, what do you think you’ll be looking for in a full-time job when you are out of school? Feel free to dream and describe your ideal work life. Are there certain conditions that are deal-breakers? Are there things — whether salary, work hours, autonomy, creativity or anything else — that are must-haves? Why?

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Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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How Much Does Having a ‘Dream Job' Matter to You? - The New York Times
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