Job (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what work is, its types and why child labor and slave labor are prohibited. Also, what is social work.

job — Work defines the way we contribute to society.

What is work?

The work is the physical or intellectual activity that people perform to achieve a goal or satisfy a need through the production of goods and services. the word job comes from latin tripalliare'torture', derived in turn from tripalliumname given to an instrument similar to a stocks, with which horses and oxen were held in order to be able to shoe them properly. The same instrument could be used to punish prisoners and slaves.

Work is fundamental in societies. It covers a wide variety of tasks, from house cleaning and building machines to teaching classes and space travel. Throughout history, work has been linked to other aspects of society, such as membership in a social class access to certain privileges and the exercise of some rights.

Types of work

There are several ways to classify work. Some of them are the following:

Depending on the type of effort required

Handwork. It is the one that requires physical effort. It is the oldest type of work known and until the Industrial Revolution it was the predominant one. Some examples of manual work are masonry, house painting, pottery and planting.
intellectual work. It is one that does not require physical effort, but intellectual abilities. Examples of this type of work are the work of an architect, a doctor or a politician.

Depending on the degree of preparation required

Skilled or professional work. It is that job that requires specialized training, generally at an academic level. Examples of this type of work are medical practice, civil engineering, and teaching.
Semi-skilled work. It is one in which it is necessary to have prior knowledge of certain processes or machine handling. Electrical repairs, operating cranes and tractors, and building construction fall into this type of work.
Unskilled work. It is one that does not require prior knowledge, so it can be performed by anyone who follows the instructions given. For this reason, it is usually lower paid than skilled work. Examples of this type of work are waiters, cleaners, and security guards.

According to the scale of work production

Craft work. It is one in which the production of objects is done by hand or using simple tools. As a result, each object is different from the others. Examples of this type of work are those carried out by many ceramicists and weavers, and also by some carpenters and small food producers.
industrial work. It is what is carried out in factories, where raw materials are transformed into manufactures, using complex machinery. Historically, this type of work emerged at the end of the 18th century with the Industrial Revolution. The work of factory workers constitutes industrial work.

According to the relationship between the worker and the person who hires him

Work in a dependency relationship. It is the work that is carried out under the subordination of another person (natural or legal), who hires the worker and establishes the conditions of the work. In exchange for the work performed, the worker receives a salary. It is the predominant way of working today. The jobs done by bank tellers, company analysts, or public agency employees are examples of this type of work.
Freelance work. It is work that is carried out on one's own account, usually in the exercise of a profession or trade. The worker does not depend on any person and, instead of a salary received periodically, is paid for each job performed. Examples of this type of work are the autonomous work of a plumber, a merchant, a psychologist or a lawyer.
Temporary work. This is a temporary employment relationship, in which the worker is hired for a specific period to do a specific activity. While the employment relationship lasts, the worker must carry out the tasks assigned to him and, in exchange, receives a salary. Examples of this type of work are seasonal workers hired on certain plantations to work only during the harvest.

Depending on whether or not it conforms to legal regulations

Formal or registered work. This category includes all types of work that comply with the established provisions. This is legal work, subject to payment of taxes and other contributions (for example, the health service).
Informal work. Unlike formal work, informal work is any work that is not governed by legal regulations, or only by some of them. Officially, it does not exist for the State, so it does not pay the corresponding taxes and contributions.

Depending on the number of people involved

Individual work. It is one that is carried out by a single person, who is in charge of all decisions.
Teamwork. It is one that, unlike individual work, is carried out between several workers, who must coordinate their efforts in pursuit of a common objective to operate efficiently.

Depending on where the work is done

Face-to-face work. It is work that is carried out in a fixed location in a company or organization, such as an office or a shop. In many cases, the worker's presence on site is inherent to the work he or she carries out. This is the case with workers who can only carry out their activity in a factory or a mechanic who must work in his automotive workshop.
Remote work or teleworking. It differs from face-to-face work in that it is carried out remotely. Generally, in this type of work, different means of communication are used to connect the worker with the person who hires them. Some examples are professional advice or journalistic interviews.

slave labor

Slave labor, also called forced labor, is an employment relationship in which people are forced to work under the threat of some type of violence destitution, jail or other extreme hardship.

child labor

Child labor, also called child exploitation or child slavery, is the exploitation of children through any type of work. It affects the normal development and growth of children, as it prevents them from attending school regularly and deprives them of their childhood.

Child labor is prohibited throughout the world. However, in several countries some children's work is considered not to be child labor. Exceptions include family chores, child artists, and some activities performed by children in various indigenous communities.

It is estimated that, in the poorest countries in the world, one in four children works. The highest percentage (29%) is found in sub-Saharan Africa. In Mexico, although child labor has been reducing, it is still numerous: in 2019, there were approximately more than two million children working.

Worldwide, the activity with the highest amount of child labor is agriculture. The vast majority of children exploited at work belong to rural regions and marginal urban areas.

In general, children are employed by their parents. However, many work in the service of other people, often in unhealthy conditions and with little or no remuneration. Likewise, there are numerous cases of children forced into prostitution.

Social work is a discipline focused on promoting the development and strengthening of individuals, families and communities. Its objective is to promote social change to improve people's standard of living.

It covers tasks of facilitating collective organization, social and psychological counseling, mediation between groups in conflict and other tasks related to social justice, human rights and the responsibility of society towards those less fortunate.

Volunteer work

Voluntary work or volunteering is the work done freely and voluntarily by a person or a group to serve a community. Volunteers provide help in many areas: health, education, housing, culture and environment. Their activity is especially valuable in emergency situations, such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

Generally, volunteer work It is part of institutions created for charitable and aid purposes such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and foundations. These institutions bring together volunteers and coordinate their activities in relation to the area of their interest.

Academic work

An academic work is a text that addresses a specific topic and that it is written according to very clearly established rules, in a cultured and specialized language. All academic work is the result of research and allows the author's ability to investigate and reflect to be demonstrated. Therefore, it constitutes a tool for evaluating the learning achieved in a subject or course.

Examples of academic works are degree theses, the articles and papers submitted to specialized magazines or even the reviews, text comments, summaries, monographs and essays with which university professors evaluate the learning of their undergraduate students.

I work in physics

In physics, work is understood as transfer of energy from one body to another. Work is done when a force is applied to an object over a distance.

Work is not something that an object possesses, but something that one object does to another. When one object does work, it transfers some of its energy to another. For example, when kicking a ball, the leg applies a force as it moves towards the ball, that is, it applies the force over a distance. In this way, the leg does work on the ball. As a result, the ball gains energy and moves.

To calculate the work done by an object, the following formula is used:

where
W is work, measured in joules (J)
F is the force, measured in Newtons (N)
d is the displacement of the object

The arrows on the force and displacement indicate that they are vectors, that is, they have a direction. If both directions are equal, the work will be positive and there will be energy gain. If the directions are opposite, the work will be negative and the energy will decrease.