Our Radical Take That Work Should Be a Good Thing How People Work

Many of the concepts we have about work assume that it is a necessary evil. Work is bad and life is good, and therefore we should aim for minimal time spent working and maximal time at leisure. This is the assumption embedded in the “work-life balance” model.
In this first episode of How People Work, Fringe co-founders Jordan Peace and Jason Murray challenge this way of thinking.
They explore the history of how people have thought about work, what we stand to gain if we view it as inherently good, and how this mindset led them to start Fringe.

Key ideas and highlights
“Work should be a good thing. This notion of how we work as humans, but also how we apply ourselves to work, is something that ought to be investigated and talked about. And it’s relevant to what we're doing here with Fringe because we're trying to very much build a company in which people can feel that they do good work and that the work is good for them and good for their lives and their families.” — Jason Murray

Before, people viewed work as a transactional relationship between employer and employee. In exchange for labor, employees received wages.

Now, employees expect to find meaning, purpose, and belonging at work.

This transition was fueled by the expansion of benefits that extend beyond the quid pro quo arrangement of the past—health insurance added in the 1940s, 401(k)s in the ‘70s, and more recent perks like remote work in the 2020s.

The problem with the current benefits landscape is that almost all benefits are future-oriented. You reap their reward later on, especially when you’re sick, dead, or retired.

The next development in the evolution: benefits that meet the everyday needs of employees, such as child care, mental health support, student loan repayment, or even food delivery.

Employers that offer benefits that their employees can use in their daily life are best positioned to drive recruiting and retention efforts.