The pursuit of meaningful work has deep historical roots. Work offers more than a means of earning a living. It also provides a sense of purpose, belonging, and accomplishment. For centuries, scholars in the social sciences and humanities have sought to understand what makes work meaningful. For example, in the 19th century, Karl Marx warned that industrialisation and the extreme division of labour could lead to alienation and a profound sense of meaninglessness.

Today, meaningful work has become a measurable aspect of both individual well-being and organisational effectiveness. Traditional models of well-being emphasised hedonic well-being, centred on the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. More recent perspectives emphasise eudaimonic well-being, which involves a deeper sense of fulfilment derived from purpose, personal growth, and a feeling of contributing to something greater than oneself. Meaningful work stands at the core of this eudaimonic view.

For organisations, this shift has far-reaching implications. A growing body of evidence links meaningful work to higher engagement, stronger commitment, greater creativity, and lower turnover. In essence, people who find meaning in their work perform better and stay longer. Cultivating meaningful work is therefore not only an ethical responsibility but also a powerful competitive advantage.

The UK Skills and Employment Survey 2024: A New Window into Meaningful Work

The Skills and Employment Survey 2024 (SES2024) provides one of the most comprehensive pictures of how meaningful work is experienced across the UK. Since its inception in 1986, the SES series has tracked changes in skills and job quality for nearly four decades, involving a total of 34,000 workers. The latest wave, carried out in 2024, collected data on meaningful work for the first time from a nationally representative sample of 5,465 workers.

To capture meaningfulness, respondents were asked how often they experienced the feeling of a job well done, the feeling of doing useful work, and a sense of belonging. The overall findings are positive. Nearly 80% of workers said they consistently felt the sense of a job well done, and three-quarters felt they were doing useful work. Only a tiny minority (between 1% and 3%) had never had these experiences. Taken together, the data suggest that meaningless work is relatively uncommon, challenging popular notions that many people are stuck in “bullshit jobs”.

However, the survey also reveals substantial differences across demographic and occupational groups. Women reported higher levels of meaningfulness than men, and younger workers were less likely to find their work meaningful than older workers. Occupational differences are also pronounced. Workers in caring and leisure roles reported the highest levels of meaningfulness, followed by those in skilled trades. At the other end of the scale, elementary jobs, machine operatives, and sales and customer service workers reported the lowest scores. By industry, the highest levels of meaningful work were found in healthcare, education, and construction, while the lowest were reported in accommodation and food services, transport, finance, and retail.

The data also shed light on what specific job characteristics drive meaningful work. It turned out that social relationships and intrinsic job quality matter far more than pay or workload. For example, among workers who reported strong managerial support, 29% always had the feelings of a job well done, compared with just 8% among those with weak support. Similarly, a strong sense of belonging was reported by 41% of those with supportive managers, versus only 10% without.

Opportunities to use skills also play a crucial role. Where workers could apply their skills, 42% always felt they were doing useful work. This drops to 16% among those with little chance to use their abilities. Factors such as task variety, participation in decision-making, and autonomy all significantly enhance the perception of meaningfulness. Interestingly, pay level makes little difference. The correlation between pay and meaningfulness is close to zero. This suggests that meaning arises less from financial reward and more from intrinsic motivation, competence, and human connection.

Conclusion

The Skills and Employment Survey paints a reassuring picture: most people in the UK find their work meaningful. The so-called ‘bullshit jobs’ are far from widespread. However, the findings also reveal critical challenges, particularly for younger workers and those in lower-skilled sectors.

The key takeaway is clear: people are more likely to find their work meaningful when they can take initiative, use skills, and count on supportive managers.  Organisations and policymakers must prioritise improving intrinsic job quality to make work more fulfilling. Another key finding is that jobs directly improving others’ lives, such as those in healthcare, education, and skilled trades, are consistently rated as the most meaningful.

As artificial intelligence continues to transform the labour market, the central challenge is to ensure that technologies enhance rather than diminish the meaningfulness of work. Policies should steer technologies towards augmenting human capabilities and creating roles that enable workers to exercise skills and autonomy and establish meaningful social relationships. From a broader societal perspective, the meaningfulness of work also depends on its contribution to the common good. This calls for proactive policies that protect and expand jobs that directly enhance public health and wellbeing as part of a just, inclusive and sustainable economy.

Zhou Y, Davies R, Felstead A, Gallie D, Green F, Henseke G (2025) What Makes Work Meaningful? Findings from the Skills and Employment Survey 2024. Cardiff: Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data, Cardiff University.

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