Work

1. Work The Power to Create A New World

2. The Meaning of Work- overview • Work and working are essential in human life • The problem of unemployment • The reason to work • The Christian Vision of Work • The dignity of work • Work – More Than a Living

3. Work is essential • What is work? • A sustained effort that has a purpose. • In its broadest sense, work includes all unpaid but purposeful effort (parenthood, student doing his/her homework, washing the dishes, and so on).

4. Work is essential • Right now, however, we are going to reflect on work in the sense of person's usual means of earning a living. • People generally spend 40-50 years of life working at various jobs. • It is a huge part of our existence – not only in terms of time, but as a force that shapes our identity and the meaning of life.

5. Work is essential • The Problem of Unemployment • When people are deprived of work, they experience the loss of meaning in their lives.

6. Unemployment in the USA

7. Unemployment in the us • Unemployment in the U.S. Age • 16 to 19 years 15.9 • 20 to 24 years 9.5 • 25 to 54 years 3.5 Education • Less than high school 6.8     • Less than bachelors degree 3.2 • College graduate 2.2 Racial group • African Americans 8.4 • Hispanic 6.6     • White 4.0

8. Unemployment in the us • Unemployment is destructive not merely because of the financial loss. • It destroys one’s sense of self, one’s reason for living.

9. Unemployment in the us • Apart from the personal impact, there are two main consequences of unemployment: • Economic • Social

10. Unemployment in the us • Unemployment has links to economic disadvantage • Loss of income • Negative multiplier effects • Loss of national output

11. Unemployment in the us • The social consequences of unemployment have been connected to • higher crime rates • Suicide • homicide • increases of alcoholism • child abuse • family breakdown • psychiatric hospitalization

12. Unemployment in the us • Unemployment may impair the functioning of families by affecting the parents' interactions with their children and the interactions between partners.

13. Questions/reflections • How would you define “work” and why work is important to you? • If I were finished with my schooling and could not find work for a long time, • how would I feel? • how would I react? • what would I do?

14. Pursuit of Happyness • 1. Why do you think Gardner chose “Pursuit of Happyness” as the title to his book/movie? • 2. What happens in Chris Gardner’s life to make him and his son become homeless? Did the events appear to you to be the result of someone’s fault, poor decisions, or just a sequence of events? • 3. What do you think keeps Chris going when he hits ‘bottom’ in the despair of his situation?

15. Pursuit of Happyness • It seems that many Americans have been pursuing the Wall Street version of happiness. In the minds of many Americans, the “pursuit of happiness” is unconsciously equated with the pursuit of wealth and security. • 1. What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he enshrined the “pursuit of happiness” as a basic right in the Declaration of Independence? • 2. What does the “pursuit of happiness” mean to you?

16. Why work? 1. To Earn Money • Most of us work to earn money so that we can meet our basic needs. • Income is not a bad motive for work – it is a reality.

17. Why work? 2. To fulfill ambitions • Each one of us has his or her dreams and aspiration. • Many people see work as a way to fulfill those aspirations.

18. Why work? 3. To develop a sense of identity • Work can help us to clarify who we are: • What talents and skills do I have? • What characteristics do I possess?

19. Why work? 4. To do what one loves to do • People who love their jobs tend to work with a special enthusiasm. • “Happiness is being paid to do what you would do anyway”

20. Why work? 5. To build a better world • The altruistic desire to create a better world and improve the conditions of living is another motivation for working.

21. Why work? 6. To answer a call • Some people see work as more than a job. They see it as vocation, or calling. • They feel they are called to do certain things, and their job is the response to that call.

22. Reflection • Do you have an ambition or aspiration that you have always wanted to fulfill? • If so, share/write about that ambition and how you might fulfill it through work.

23. Why work? • Imagine for a moment that you are unbelievably wealthy. You don’t have to work for the income it brings you, but still, you do work. Because you aren’t concerned with the amount of your paycheck, you are able to choose the work you want to do for the pure joy and pleasure of it. What would you choose? What would you do?

24. Reflection • Agree or disagree with each of the following statements and explain in writing: • It is human nature for people to do as little work as they can get away with. • People work primarily for money; recognition and satisfaction are much less important.

25. The Christian vision of work • The dignity of work • The dignity of work does not depend on the work, but on the fact that the one who is doing the work is a PERSON. • From a Christian point of view work is seen as participation in God’s creation

26. The Christian vision of work • Work and Meaning • Three men were breaking up rocks. “What are you doing?”a passerby asks. “Making little rocks out of big ones,” says the first worker. “Earning a living,” answers the second. “Building a cathedral,” says the third. • What does the short story tell us about the meaning of work?

27. The Christian vision of work • Work can have meaning for us in two ways: • The type of work we do • The way we work

28. The Christian vision of work • The Type of Work • Jobs that help • Jobs that involve direct service to people in need (doctors, teachers, social workers) • Jobs that are not direct service but do help others (contractors, engineers)

29. The Christian vision of work • Jobs That Hurt • Unfortunately some jobs are destructive by their very nature – the manufacture of • cigarettes • chemical and biological weapons • untested drugs

30. The Christian vision of work • Jobs that Degrade Workers • Jobs that do not respect the dignity of human beings • Any form of slavery • Children labor

31. The Christian vision of work • The Way We Work • Quality • Care for people • Concern for coworkers • These three dimensions of how we work affect the meaning of our work • Quality is a commitment to excellence • Care for customers means care for another person • Concern for coworkers means the need for cooperation and interdependence

32. Reflection Find a job you like and you add five days to every week. H. Jackson Brown, Jr. America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week. Evan Esar Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. Sam Ewing I think the person who takes a job in order to live - that is to say, for the money - has turned himself into a slave.Joseph Campbell Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live. Margaret Fuller Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. Khalil Gibran

33. Job vs. career Job - a necessity to make a living Career – personal fulfillment

34. Choosing a Career • How to Choose a Career? • 1. Assessing yourself in terms of your individual interests, personality, skills • Interests – what you like to do • Personality – preference in working with people, things, data • Skills – what you are good at

35. Choosing a Career • 2. Looking Beyond Stereotypes • Nursing is not just women’s work • Scientists are not just men • 3. Consider Work Environment • Working alone or with others • Working outdoors • Traveling

36. Choosing a Career • 4. Looking at Clusters of Work • Health care • The arts • Marketing • Public relations • Teaching • Within each of those clusters there are more specific careers

37. Choosing a Career • 5. Contacting People in Your Fields of Interest • Interviewing people • Observing them • 6. Trying Out Careers • Internships • Volunteering

38. Developing Skills for work • There are two types of skills we acquire in our life • Career- Content Skills • Skills that belong to a particular job (dentistry, computer programming, sales, and so on) • Transferable Life Skills • time management, working in groups, creativity, decision making process

39. Developing Skills for work • In the ever changing world, the transferable life skills are extremely important. • People who have acquired many transferable skills are in the best position to adapt to a changing world

40. work • Work is necessary. • We need to work not only to support ourselves and our families but also to • have purpose • realize our potentials • accomplish things • contribute something of value with our life.