Lost in Work

Many young people were raised on the belief that diligence at school leads to a stable, decently paid job. Horgan argues that this bargain no longer holds. Paid labour today more often brings insecurity, worry and estrangement from the work itself than wealth or a sense of fulfilment.

The book approaches the subject through three lines of inquiry: what work actually is, how it harms those who do it, and what can be done about it. Along the way, it examines how capitalism shapes employment, from jobs spilling into home life, to the spread of temporary positions and contracts with no guaranteed hours, to the exhaustion of burnout. It also looks at how certain kinds of jobs have come to be assigned along lines of gender and race.

Horgan does not conclude that work should simply be abolished. Instead, she shows that when employees gain real control over their workplaces, they become less miserable, and that this control can also give them a way to push back against those who hold power.