When Good Jobs Become Bad Jobs. Professional's Subjective Demands for Meaningful WorkDate submitted: August 29, 2018Revised version accepted after double-blind review: February 22, 2019.

Abstract

A central question of research on job quality is which factors impact the evaluation of job quality. The possibility of experiencing work as meaningful has repeatedly been named in research as an important factor in the quality of work, but, so far, there is a lack of studies investigating the subjective demands of employees for meaningful work. For this reason, the following contribution focuses on subjective standards of meaningful work, examining which standards employees in “good work” (i.e. expert service work with a high degree of autonomy) have. It also evaluates barriers that undermine the experience of meaningfulness at work. Based on a sample of professionals in "good work" - from positions in management to medicine and social work, the subjectively relevant dimensions of the violation of good work are shown. The study utilizes a perspective of the sociology of critique in which the actors themselves criticize the violation of norms in the world of work. 40 qualitative interviews were conducted in which employment biographies, subjectively perceived stress situations, and subjective resources were questioned. The article identifies four areas in which experiences of suffering by professionals are demonstrated by subpar standards for meaningful work. The article aims to gain a more precise understanding of the perception of work quality in professions with good work and to show that the world of work can be understood as a place of criticism impacted by moral standards which influence the experience of employees.