To 'Build Back Better' we have to rethink the role of work in our lives

Dealing with mental health issues, achieving equality and restructuring will affect countless organisations after lockdown, writes Brendan Barber

The guidance about home working where possible means organisations have had to adapt (PA)

As we ease out of lockdown, there are hard choices to be made about our economic priorities and where to direct investment. How can we promote green growth and minimise unemployment, given that a whole generation of young people entering the world of work are at particular risk?

If we are truly to “Build Back Better” we really have to make big changes in the way we think about the role of work in all of our lives. At its best, work can be a source of enormous personal pride and satisfaction, where skills and learning are deployed in worthwhile endeavour. Work can provide someone with a sense of identity – far more than just the answer to the question “what do you do?’” It gives a sense of purpose and often lifelong friendships too.

But, at its worst, work can be bleak, humiliating, ill rewarded and exploitative in an environment dominated by unfairness.