Why do we talk about occupation to describe ourselves?

August 19, 2024
by Noriyuki Morimoto

Why do people refer to their occupation to explain who they are? To start with, what is an occupation?

As long as we live, we will always consume things, which means that we will always have some form of income to support our consumption. If occupation is defined as the source of income, we can say that pensioners are engaged in the occupation of receiving pensions, and family members who are not the breadwinner are engaged in the occupation of being a dependent.

Even if occupation is defined as the source of income, the source of income must be work, and occupation means doing work, and since there are many different types of work, the usual understanding of occupation is that when one is asked about occupation, one answers with the type of work they engage in, i.e., what their job is.

That said, even if pensioners are not currently working, given they are living off the compensation for their past work, it is possible to consider that they are on an extended vacation rather than unemployed. And as work does not have to come with monetary compensation, one can say that pensioners are doing their own kind of work, namely taking walks, travelling, reading, etc.

And if work does not require monetary compensation, then all human activities can be considered work: a baby’s job is to sleep, a child’s job is to play, a student’s job is to study, a housewife’s job is to manage the house, a wealthy person’s job is to manage their wealth, and so on. Since humans are always engaged in some activity, if we call that area of activity an occupation, then there would be no one without a job.

Then, does work mean to attain the highest degree of expertise beyond that of an ordinary person, like an athlete or an artist? If a person has the same highest degree of expertise, but does not earn income from it and relies on another source, the source of income is called the occupation. In fact, there can be no such occupation as a philosopher, only a university professor who teaches philosophy.

After all, occupation should be defined as the source of income.

 

[Category /Work-Style Reform]