ABSTRACT
Work acquired the connotations it has today largely in the 20th century, in the context of career-oriented work that involved an exchange: job security, benefits, and career progression on the one hand, and loyalty, productivity, and compliance on the other. This formed a social contract of sorts against a backdrop of reasonable stability and economic prosperity. Work environments were brick and mortar, hierarchically organized, and involved face-to-face interaction. Managers “managed” and employees “worked.” This was the prevailing paradigm until the current age of digital disruption, where flexible, virtual, and often transient work arrangements have come to increasingly replace steady jobs. By doing so, they tend to strongly dilute the commitment and dedication to “occupations” and by extension, to organizations that “housed” them.
