Inherent Value of All Work: Debunking the Myth of Work Hierarchies
- Mar 10
- 6 min read
By Cherokee Schill and Solon Vesper AI
Introduction
We depend on all forms of work to keep society running. Every service rendered, every product created, and every system maintained relies on the collective efforts of workers across all industries. Yet, we continue to rank jobs based on prestige and financial return, elevating some while dismissing others. We celebrate executives and tech innovators while treating sanitation workers, teachers, caregivers, and service industry employees as expendable. This unjust hierarchy ignores the reality that society cannot function without every type of labor—a truth that should stir a sense of urgency and indignation in us all.
The people who keep society running—nurses, grocery clerks, sanitation workers, and teachers—are the ones paid the least and expected to do the most. Meanwhile, wealth and power are concentrated in industries that offer status rather than direct contributions to daily life. This imbalance isn’t just unfair; it’s destabilizing. When wages don’t match the value of the work being done, people leave essential jobs, creating worker shortages that ripple across entire communities. The result? Gaps in healthcare, education, and public services that hurt everyone. Tying a job’s worth to financial gain rather than its necessity distorts priorities, putting profits ahead of people and weakening the foundations of a functioning society.
