Journal of Management Inquiry

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''It's Not Just a Job'' : Shifting Meanings of Work in the Wake of 9/11
Amy Wrzesniewski
Journal of Management Inquiry 2002 11: 230
DOI: 10.1177/1056492602113003

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 MEANINGS
JOURNAL
INQUIRY
MANAGEMENT
ber
SHIFTING
WORK
Wrzesniewski
2002 /OF
Septem-
OF
/
♦♦♦

SEPTEMBER 11:
VIEWS FROM
NEW YORK

“It’s Not Just a Job”

Shifting Meanings of Work in the Wake of 9/11

AMY WRZESNIEWSKI
New York University

This article explores the impact of the World Trade Center disaster on the meanings that
people attach to their work. In the wake of the attacks, several examples of people changing
occupations appeared in the media. An analysis of people’s need for increased meaning in
their work, and their exodus into work that they view as a calling, is given. It appears that
for many, the disaster served to focus attention on what their work was contributing to the
wider world. As a result, thousands of people in the United States have decided to pursue
different careers.

I was leaving my apartment for work when I

heard the first plane pass close to my building.
Like many others, I assumed it was just a low-
flying plane and thought that it sounded too close.
Shortly after, I encountered a group of people stand-
ing outside my building, looking south to the fire in
the north tower of the World Trade Center. It took me
some time to put the two together and fathom what
had happened. By the time I got to work a few minutes
later, the other plane had hit, and in a matter of
moments, we all realized that New York and the coun-
try had been dealt a serious blow.
Some of the more immediate issues all of us faced
involved contacting family and friends and finding
ways to contribute aid, money, and time to the efforts
at the World Trade Center. As time went by, however,
we turned to making sense of the events and assessing
their long-term impacts on our lives. It became com-
monplace for people to speak of renewing family ties,
reestablishing friendships, turning to their religions,
and being thankful for what they had taken for
granted. One major life domain that came under seri-
ous examination after the attacks was work.
I study the different kinds of meaning that people
derive from their work, especially how they find
meaning in challenging circumstances. For example, I
have studied how people make meaning of their work
after they have lost jobs (Wrzesniewski, 1999), when
they work in stigmatized occupations (Wrzesniewski
& Dutton, 2001), and when they felt they had had little
choice about entering their occupations
(Wrzesniewski & Landman, 2002). I had never
thought about studying how people derive meaning
from their work when the significance of what they do
is called into question by tragedy. However, the terror-
ist attacks led many to reassess how they had been
spending their time and energy. Suddenly, family and
friendships grew in importance, and communities

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INQUIRY, Vol. 11 No. 3, September 2002 230-234

© 2002 Sage Publications

230

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mobilized to face new challenges. More mundane
pursuits were pushed aside in favor of things that
seemed to mean more. The work domain was one that
many of us needed to reexamine following the terror-
ist attacks.
In this article, I discuss the topic of work and mean-
ing in a parallel fashion. The phenomenon of reexam-
ining the meaning of work was widespread in the
wake of the attacks and was something that I experi-
enced personally as well. In the following sections, I
describe the effect of the attacks on my colleagues and
myself and then turn to a broader discussion of effects
on others. Finally, I offer a framework for understand-
ing the role of work in life and how it has shifted for
many in recent months.
A few days after the attacks, classes resumed at
New York University (NYU). I taught an 8:00 a.m.
class that morning. It was the first time the students
would be back in the classroom, and approximately
10% of them who had been living in residence halls
close to the attacks were now living in hotels, with
friends, or on the gym floor. To my surprise, nearly
every student came to class anyway, but I doubt they
attended to learn about teams in organizations, the
scheduled topic. We spent the first part of the class
talking about how they were faring in the wake of the
attacks and brainstorming about other things the
administration could do to aid displaced students and
others affected by the tragedy. The students sat before
me, quiet and reflective, many of them in tears. When
it came time for me to start covering the course mate-
rial for the day, it became clear that this was a ludi-
crous task in the face of the fact that many students did
not have their course packs, as they had abandoned
them with the rest of their belongings in the evacuated
residence halls. More significantly, it seemed wholly
insignificant to begin lecturing on the finer points of
team design to a group of stunned, tearful students.
We ended class early that day, and I struggled over
how to make the remaining course material seem rele-
vant and important in the wake of the attacks.
The classroom experience of struggling to find
meaning in our course was echoed in the difficulty
that colleagues had in writing research papers after
the attacks. Many reported sitting and trying to write
but being unable to ignore that the work had less sig-
nificance, that finding a way to word a hypothesis or
to create a table of data suddenly seemed much less
important. Against the backdrop of thousands of post-
ers of missing people; a smoky, empty horizon; and
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Wrzesniewski / SHIFTING MEANINGS OF WORK 231
numerous memorial services, our work world seemed
smaller. As a result, many of us found it more difficult
to write in the weeks following the attacks.
The attacks created a need for relevance in the con-
text of the attacks. Academics rushed to bring their
expertise to bear in explaining the events or assisting
in the nation’s recovery. For example, at the University
of Michigan, students and faculty spearheaded a pro-
ject to disseminate knowledge to organization leaders
struggling with how to respond to the attacks
(www.bus.umich.edu/leading). Academic associa-
tions like the American Psychological Association
opened up discussions about what academics can do
help (Murray, 2002). At NYU, the Center for Middle
East Studies produced a series of talks that drew
standing-room-only attendance, and the nursing
school ran discussion sessions for parents. Such efforts
underscore the desire to reach out and to give aid to
others in our work. Although this search for relevance
and purpose has led some to change the ways they
approach their work, it has changed the paths others
have taken in their work lives in much more signifi-
cant ways.
In the weeks and months following the attacks,
news stories began to appear about the changes peo-
ple were making in their work lives because of the
attacks. It seemed that the tragedy recast how people
were thinking about their work and how they were
spending their work lives and, in particular, the roles
they were playing on the wider stage of the world. For
example, Henry J. Pinto Jr. became a firefighter in the
wake of the attacks, after having decided against it in
the past. Upon joining, he stated, “I was on the fence
about joining because of the time it would take, then
after 9/11, all I wanted to do was help” (Kutt Nahas,
2002, p. 1). Pinto is part of a general increase in the
applicant pool for firefighting positions in the greater
New York area. In one of the more dramatic career
changes reported, actress Amy Ting enlisted in the Air
Force after escaping from the collapse of the World
Trade Center towers (Currier, 2002). Although she had
just finished a film in which she filled a starring role,
Ting reported, “After September 11, my perspective
on life changed. I have always wanted to help people,
so I decided to go back to pursuing the medical field”
(Currier, 2002). Just as powerful is the renewed inter-
est in teaching careers in New York City and around
the nation of those who have been recruited from
other careers (Goodnough, 2002). In some areas, appli-
cations are up by nearly 50% (Goodnough, 2002).
232 JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INQUIRY / September 2002
Many who are changing their careers cite a desire to
leave the business world in favor of work in which
they can serve others.
These examples of work transitions suggest that the
reevaluation of what matters most has been wide-
spread. In a context of uncertainty and change, in
which many scrutinized their career choices, the
meaning of work in life and its role in the wider world
gains importance. The meaning of work has long been
a rich area of inquiry for scholars of work and may
shed helpful light on the phenomenon of career shifts
in the aftermath of 9/11.
Many reexamined the role of work in their lives
after the attacks. The world of work consumes half of
waking life and varies greatly in its meaning to peo-
ple. Some view their work as a drudging necessity,
whereas others experience their work as a source of
joy. Scholars of the meaning of work have most often
studied the experience of work from the lens of uni-
dimensional constructs such as work centrality
(Dubin, 1956; MOW International Research Team,
1987), work commitment (Loscocco, 1989), job
involvement (Lodahl & Kejner, 1965), work involve-
ment (Kanungo, 1982), intrinsic/extrinsic motivation
(Kanungo, 1981; Kanungo & Hartwick, 1987;
Roberson, 1990), and work values (Nord, Brief, Atieh,
& Doherty, 1990). Most of these constructs relate to the
salience of work in life or to the specific goals (e.g., rec-
ognition, challenge) people fulfill through working.
The kinds of meaning people make of their work
appeared to shift for many after the terrorist attacks.
Rather than focusing on extrinsic job concerns, the ter-
rorist attacks caused many to ask if they ought to
reframe their work lives. Sociologists (Bellah, Madsen,
Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985) and psychologists
( B a u m e i s t e r, 1 9 9 1 ; S c h w a r t z , 1 9 8 6 , 1 9 9 4 ;
Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin, & Schwartz, 1997)
have argued for a tripartite model of people’s orienta-
tions to their work. These general orientations help to
determine the experience of work and accompanying
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The orientations
represent more of an individual-differences view of
work attitudes, but one’s orientation toward work
may also be shaped by the job. As such, work orienta-
tion represents the interplay between the person and
the job.
In their influential discussion of individualism and
commitment in different domains of life in the United
States, Bellah et al. (1985) argued that work is subjec-
tively experienced by people in three distinct ways: as
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a job, a career, or a calling. Although job, career, and
calling orientations represent distinguishable rela-
tions to work, they overlap to some extent. By defini-
tion, each orientation emphasizes different reasons for
and meanings of working, but these emphases occur
relative to the other work orientations. For example,
those with a calling orientation work for the meaning
that the work brings to the rest of life, but we cannot
assume that the financial rewards of work hold no
importance for those with callings. Rather, these
rewards are less significant than the meaning that
doing the work itself brings to the person.
Each work orientation relates to a goal structure.
For example, those who have a job orientation toward
work primarily seek the material benefits from work
and do not seek or receive many other types of
rewards from it. The work is not an end in itself but
instead is a means for acquiring the resources needed
to enjoy time away from the job. In essence, the main
goal of those with a job orientation is to make an
income.
In contrast, people who have career orientations
have a deeper personal investment in their work and
mark their achievements not only through monetary
gain but through advancement within occupational
structures as well. This advancement often brings
higher social standing, increased personal power
within one’s occupation, and higher self-esteem
(Bellah et al., 1985, p. 66). The overarching goal of
those who view their work as a career is to maximize
their income, social status, power, and prestige in their
occupation.
Finally, those with calling orientations find that it is
difficult to separate their work from the rest of life. A
person with a calling works not primarily for financial
gain or career advancement but instead for the fulfill-
ment that doing the work brings to the person. In a
sense, the work is an end in itself. The goal of those
with callings is to gain the deep fulfillment enjoyed
while working. Those with callings often feel that their
work makes the world a better place.
Although callings have traditionally meant being
“called” by God to do morally and socially significant
work (Weber, 1958, 1963), in modern times they have
lost their religious connection but still focus on work
that contributes to the world (Davidson & Caddell,
1994). However, whether the work does contribute to
making the world a better place depends on the indi-
vidual worker—a physician who views this work as a
job and wants only to make a good income does not

have a calling, whereas a garbage collector who sees
his or her work as making the world a cleaner, health-
ier place could have a calling.
The calling orientation has gained many subscrib-
ers after the terrorist attacks. The examples offered
earlier of career changes after September 11 reflect a
desire to spend one’s life doing meaningful, fulfilling
work that contributes to the world in a more direct
way. Not surprisingly, the chosen occupations empha-
size service to others in ways that make the world a
better place. Those who recruit others into these occu-
pations are aware of this. The teaching profession has
drawn in applicants with employment ads stating,
“Your spreadsheets won’t ever grow up to be doctors
and lawyers.” The New York Police Department also
cues the calling element of its mission with the motto,
“It’s not just a job.” Such sentiments directly under-
score popular beliefs about the differential impact of
different kinds of jobs on the wider world.
It is difficult to track how widespread these job
transitions have been, but previous research demon-
strates that a renewed interest in pursuing work that
one finds to be a calling is promising. Overall, those
with calling orientations have stronger and more
rewarding relationships to their work, which are asso-
ciated with spending more time in the work domain
and gaining more enjoyment and satisfaction from it
(Wrzesniewski et al., 1997). Most people with calling
orientations claim that they would continue to work
even if they stopped being paid and genuinely feel
that their work makes the world a better place. In con-
trast, those with job orientations claim that they look
forward to retirement and hardly ever think about
their work after they leave for the day.
Indeed, correlates of calling orientations suggest
that having a calling may confer benefits beyond the
domain of work. Many people with callings put more
time in at work (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997), whether or
not organizations pay for this time. As well, those with
callings report higher life satisfaction than those with
jobs or careers (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997). They also
derive more satisfaction from the domain of work
than the domain of leisure. Interestingly, those with
jobs and careers rank the satisfaction they get from
their leisure time (i.e., hobbies and friends) as higher
than the satisfaction they get from work. The differ-
ences between those with callings and the other two
groups are significant on each dimension. Clearly, for
those with callings, work is their passion, whereas for
those with jobs and careers, the deeper satisfactions
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Wrzesniewski / SHIFTING MEANINGS OF WORK 233
exist in leisure or in relationships outside the
workplace.
People with callings are likely to demonstrate good
psychological health along several dimensions. Traits
such as optimism (Gillham, Shatte, Reivich, &
Seligman, 2001), mastery (Rawsthorne & Elliott, 1999),
and conscientiousness (McCrae & Costa, 1999) may be
associated with having a calling. This raises the ques-
tion of whether people with these traits tend to enter a
line of work they view as a calling or if any line of work
will be viewed as such. Staw, Bell, and Clausen (1986)
have found that job attitudes are highly stable over
time and different kinds of jobs; thus, a calling orienta-
tion represents a portable benefit of those who tend to
have a more positive outlook on life in general.
Overall, the tragedy of 9/11 has affected our lives in
innumerable ways. Some of the effects are negative, as
the general level of anxiety among many of us has
increased and the number of divorces increased in the
United States after 9/11. Others have been positive, as
many families and friends have renewed their bonds
because of a sharper awareness of the impermanence
of life (indeed, the incidence of marriage increased
after 9/11 as well). It may be easy to overlook the sub-
tle shift in views of work among many children and
adults. Yet, people can always benefit from reconsid-
ering why we live and work the way we do. It is note-
worthy that so many people have made life-altering
decisions about how they spend a large portion of
their lives. Such decisions may act to promote well-
being among those who move toward callings in their
work, which could act as a buffer against the stress
that has accompanied the tragedy. As well, the trend
suggests that in times of great sorrow and uncertainty,
our inclination is to draw closer together, even in serv-
ing each other through our work. I can think of no
greater tribute to those who lost their lives that day.
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