Work

From Adelle Waldman’s novel “Help Wanted” to the sci-fi-inflected Apple TV+ show “Severance,” fictional depictions of work are getting darker, or at least stranger. What can the state of the workplace in art tell us about the workplace in life?

Knowledge work is always changing, and our approach to it needs to change, too.

On the cover of the year’s first issue, the artist evokes a moment suspended between the old and the new.

“A four-day workweek means a three-day finish-things-up-on-the-weekend.”

“My newest hobby is destroying myself emotionally in a fictional world twelve hours before starting my week in the real world.”

In a win for workplace dignity, a French high court recently decreed that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in supposedly enjoyable activities.

In João Gonzalez’s animated short about a family living on the edge, the sketches and the music do the talking.

A new generation discovers that it’s hard to balance work with a well-lived life.

In a small Austrian village, an experimental program finds—or creates—work for the unemployed.

Research on early human societies offers lessons about improving our jobs today.

“Are you just going to relax and enjoy yourself the entire vacation?”

“Just when I thought I was out, they’re pulling me back in and ending work from home.”

“I thought they would jump at the chance to get a little Elon in their lives again,” the C.E.O. said.

Another spring day, another missed chance.

The dystopian drama on Apple TV+, primarily directed by Ben Stiller, takes the conceit of leaving one’s work at the office to its ultimate conclusion.

“For the most part, folks are understanding and nice!”

On a stone wall outside an office building where I used to temp and can still pick up the Wi-Fi.

There’s a masochistic pride to overworking. How heavy a workload can I truly handle? How many plates can I keep in the air?

From home offices to hospitals, from classrooms to restaurants, the coronavirus has changed our relationship with work. Is it for the better?

We need fewer things to work on. Starting now.