Scenario: Leon is 47 and has worked for 18 years in a car parts factory. In recent years, new machinery and tighter management control have reduced his role to repeating one small task for most of the day. He says the job now feels dull and that he has little control over what he does. Although he still needs the wages, he no longer feels proud of the work and says he is “just a pair of hands”.

His daughter Aisha, aged 22, has moved between short-term warehouse jobs, retail work and periods of unemployment. She says that not having stable work makes it harder to plan for housing, relationships and the future. At times she has felt excluded from friends who are in permanent jobs. Leon’s friend Ravi took early retirement last year after ill health. He says leaving work gave him relief from stress, but he also misses routine, social contact and a sense of purpose.

At a local community meeting, some people argue that secure work helps build identity, discipline and social belonging. Others say many modern jobs are repetitive, controlled and exploitative, while some sociologists claim that traditional work identities are breaking down altogether in a more flexible economy.