Scribblings

The Necessity of Work

For the vast majority of people in the Western world, work is the central feature of our everyday lives. After family, that is, which should always take priority, but it is work and the income it brings that sustains the family. Most of us spend the better part of our waking hours in the workplace, with work colleagues, even if the workplace is no longer defined as a building somewhere or other that we head to every day, though that still is the reality for a majority of workers. If we are not in an actual building, we are in virtual workplaces, where distance and time zones count for little.

Sometimes those of us who log onto LinkedIn or Bluesky or other such sites forget that we are in the minority, and quite a small minority at that, and that our preoccupations about “my journey of self-discovery”, or some other such thing, are alien to most. Do they have enough money at the end of the week or the end of the month, or sometimes in between, to make ends meet and be able to provide fire and food, warmth and nourishment, for those dependent on them? This is their main concern.

In recent years, because of the faltering of economic growth and the flatlining of real disposable incomes, for many, too many, that struggle has become harder and harder. That life is not improving year-on-year, as was the case with their parents, helps explain the rise of political populists of both right and left, with their simplistic solutions and the pinning of blame on “others”, meaning migrants, for all economic woes.

But there is little evidence that the nostrums of populists, where they have come to power, and they have come to power in too many places, including the biggest economy in the world, have ever delivered for working people. But discussion on this is for another day.

What I want to consider today is the centrality of work and the way that work gives meaning to our lives. Work is not just what gives us the money to live, it is also the ecosystem which determines the pattern of our daily lives, where we make friends, meet potential life partners, realise ambitions, and experience failures. Sometimes brutal failures.

Since the advent of the industrial revolution, when most of us stopped working on the land, the rhythm of industry has been the organising principle of our lives. “Going to work” is our 9-to-5. We have, of necessity, to structure our lives around this. At times, that can be difficult, very difficult, especially when you have to take on caring responsibilities for the young, the old, or the ill. Which mainly still today, falls to women and which largely explains the gender pay gap of 12% in Europe. Women work less than men because they have to take on responsibilities that men shun.

In writing about work, I am more than conscious that we live and work in a market economy, a capitalist economy if you will, where, while work is central to our lives, our work is directed and controlled by others in the furtherance of economic gain. That is the system, and most people seem content with the system because that is what they vote for in elections. If you want to change the system, make the people an offer they can relate to and go and get the votes. Of course, you would be pushing a rock up a hill, but that’s the way it is. Whoever said that the system was fair?

Having said that, I am conscious of the tension that exists in workplaces between managerial authority and employee autonomy. To put it bluntly, no one likes being told what to do. Having to accept being told what to do is the price we pay for having a job. But we bristle at it, nonetheless. By the way, this tension has nothing to do with Marxism or class conflict, or any other left-leaning ideology. It is just human nature.

For all its conflicts and contradictions, work is what largely defines us. How quickly in a conversation with someone you have just met for the first time does the question get asked: “Tell me, what do you do?” Your answer allows them to determine your social status and whether it is worth their while continuing to talk to you. “I am a senior executive with a multinational company” will certainly elicit a different response than “I drive a refuse truck”, even though the refuse truck driver may be adding more social value than the multinational executive.

These thoughts about the centrality of work to our lives were prompted by some recent remarks by a British government minister, In late January 2026, UK Investment Minister Lord Jason Stockwood indicated that the British government is actively discussing the introduction of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to support workers in industries facing disruption from artificial intelligence (AI). He argued that UBI could act as a financial “soft-landing” or safety net for workers whose jobs are eliminated by rapidly advancing AI technology.

UBI is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens receive a minimum income from the state in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform work.

For a start, let me say that I am not persuaded that AI will be the job destroyer that people think it will be. Of course, some jobs will go; that has always been the way with technological change. Look at the shift from agriculture to manufacturing, and now to services. But as old jobs go, new ones are created. Think of the jobs that now exist that were not even dreamt of twenty years ago. For example, how many jobs has the streaming service, Netflix, created? Sure, they are not the jobs of old, but there are plenty of happy actors out there because of Netflix. Not to mention the jobs it creates in the communities where its series are filmed. Has the North of Ireland done badly out of Game of Thrones? New Zealand out of Lord of the Rings? Some planet somewhere or other out of Star Wars?

As Schumpeter noted, the market economy is in a constant process of creative destruction. New actors come up with disruptive, fresh ideas and technologies that push older business practices aside. Think of the way Amazon has completely changed buying habits. How many people worldwide now make their living from Amazon, one way or the other? Or look at the way Ryanair revolutionised air travel in Europe. Both models have their critics, but you cannot gainsay the way they have changed things.

But my point is this. I am not convinced that getting a handout from the state in the form of UBI will result in people leading meaningful lives. What are they going to do all day? Gardening? House improvements? Watch television? You can only talk to the wall so many times before you get the message that the wall does not talk back.

People need to be with people. We are social animals. And people need to be with people for a purpose. Just “hanging out” does not cut it.

So no, UBI is no answer, though proper welfare payments are a bedrock of a decent society. We will find a way forward. We humans always do. We will continue to find a way to create jobs and give work to those who want to work, which is most of us.