Labor Day invites us to reflect on more than wages or time off. It is a reminder that the meaning of work runs deeper than economics. From the perspective of the biology of behavior, labor is a human constant: a way of turning energy into value, forging bonds, sending signals, and sustaining systems. We are wired not just to work, but to make meaning through the act of labor itself.
Energy Exchange and the Meaning of Work
At its core, labor is the biological conversion of energy. The food we eat fuels the physical and mental effort we put into our jobs. Richard Wrangham’s research shows how cooking allowed humans to access more calories, enabling the expansion of energy-intensive activities like building and creating. This conversion of calories into labor is the foundation of productivity.
Think of it this way: every workplace is built on a hidden energy ledger. Calories become keystrokes, construction, care, or creativity. Wages acknowledge that energy exchange, but the meaning of work goes beyond transactions. It reflects the human ability to transform raw fuel into something that sustains families, organizations, and economies. Without this cycle of energy exchange, civilization itself stalls.
Social Bonding and the Meaning of Work
Labor also functions as a social glue. Anthropological research shows that human ancestral group structures, rooted in cooperation and cumulative culture, enabled foraging communities to thrive through cooperative networks, division of labor, and trade across groups (e.g., across 5,000 individuals in 32 foraging societies). This collaborative foundation persists today. In modern workplaces, the meaning of work continues to be shaped by collective effort, shared trust, and mutual dependence.
Teams that labor together often cultivate higher levels of trust and resilience, dynamics that fuel performance and satisfaction in collaborative environments. Trust, in particular, plays a pivotal role: employees who fully trust their colleagues and leaders are markedly more likely to be highly resilient and fully engaged at work. One study found that those reporting complete trust were up to 42 times more likely to be highly resilient, and significantly more engaged, than those lacking that level of trust
Rest Cycles and the Meaning of Work
Labor Day itself reflects a fundamental biological truth: humans are not built for non-stop effort. Just as muscles need recovery after exertion, our minds and bodies thrive when we balance work with rest. Research on elite performers confirms this: world-class violinists practiced in concentrated bursts of no more than four hours per day, balanced by rest and even midday naps, a rhythm that supported long-term excellence.
Too often, workplaces treat rest as wasted time. Biology says the opposite. Sleep consolidates memory, recovery repairs tissue, and psychological detachment replenishes focus. The meaning of work includes these rhythms. Without recovery, labor becomes unsustainable and its meaning collapses into mere exhaustion. That is why the original labor movement demanded not only fair pay but also shorter hours and safer conditions: they were pushing for alignment with biology as much as with economics.
Signals, Contribution, and the Meaning of Work
In biology, signaling is how organisms demonstrate their fitness, reliability, or intentions. Labor serves a similar function for humans. We send signals of belonging and value by showing up, contributing, and producing.
This helps explain why unemployment feels so disorienting: it disrupts not only income but also the psychological foundations of work tied to well-being and identity, including time structure, social contact, collective purpose, and status.
These signals ripple outward. An employee who consistently contributes sends a signal that shapes the behavior of others, reinforcing norms of reliability. A leader who models balance between labor and rest signals that the organization values sustainability. Signals compound, shaping the culture of entire systems.
Shared Value and the Meaning of Work
When we zoom out, the biology of behavior shows us that labor is about more than individual gain. It’s about shared value creation. Behavioral signals scale from individuals to teams to ecosystems. Labor does the same: one person’s contribution feeds into collective outcomes that ripple across families, companies, and economies.
The meaning of work is ultimately about this multiplier effect, the way individual labor adds up to something larger than any one of us. It is why strikes, labor shortages, or workforce disruptions are so destabilizing: they interrupt not only productivity but also the systems of shared value that work sustains. When people labor, they participate in a chain reaction of value creation that extends well beyond their job description.
Four Practical Ways Leaders Can Strengthen the Meaning of Work
Biology may explain why labor matters, but leaders shape how those biological drives translate into daily experience. Here are four practical actions leaders can take to reinforce the meaning of work:
- Honor the Energy Exchange. Make visible the connection between effort and outcomes. Recognize not only results but also the energy people put into tasks. This reinforces the biological truth that labor is the conversion of human energy into value.
- Foster Social Bonding. Create deliberate opportunities for collaboration. Whether through cross-functional projects, mentoring, or structured peer exchanges, you strengthen trust by reminding people that labor is not an isolated act but a shared one.
- Build in Rest Cycles. Model boundaries and recovery. Encourage employees to take time away from work without guilt and practice it yourself. By showing that rest is part of the rhythm of performance, you keep the meaning of work connected to sustainability rather than burnout.
- Amplify Signals of Contribution. Offer regular, specific acknowledgment of people’s efforts. Recognition reinforces the signaling role of labor—telling employees that their work matters to the team and the larger system. The meaning of work is sustained when contributions are consistently seen and valued.
Reclaiming the Meaning of Work
The labor movements of the past fought for more than wages. They fought for dignity, fairness, and recognition of the biology of labor: that humans need contribution, reciprocity, and recovery. Today’s debates about remote work, automation, and the gig economy would benefit from this same perspective on the meaning of work.
The meaning of work lies not in output alone, but in its biological role: exchanging energy, bonding socially, signaling value, and creating shared outcomes. If workplaces honor these biological imperatives, they can unlock not only higher performance but also deeper engagement. If they ignore them, labor loses meaning and becomes merely mechanical.
This Labor Day, as we pause to rest, we’re reminded of a truth far older than modern economies. The meaning of work is written into our biology. It is how we convert energy into purpose, build bonds that sustain us, and participate in systems larger than ourselves.