Work is a means of getting money, not in itself a meaningful human activity. P. Drucker, observing workers in the automobile industry, expresses this idea very succinctly For the great majority of automobile workers, the only meaning of the job is in the pay check, not in anything connected with the work or the product. Work appears as something unnatural, a disagreeable, meaningless and stultifying condition of getting the pay check, devoid of dignity as well as of importance. No wonder that this puts a premium on slovenly work, on slowdowns , and on other tricks to get the same pay check with less work. No wonder that this results in an unhappy and discontented worker--because a pay check is not enough to base one's self-respect on.
劳动只是一种挣钱的手段，它本身再不是一种有意义的人类活动了。彼得·德鲁克在考察了汽车制造业工人的劳动状况后，用简洁的文字表述了这一观点：对绝大多数汽车工人来说，劳动的唯一的意义就在那张工资支票上，而不在与其所从事的工作或产品有关的任何事情上。劳动似乎是一种很不正常的活动，是一种令人厌恶的、毫无意义的、愚蠢可笑的获取工资支票的条件，既无任何尊严，也无任何重要性。无怪乎工人们要千方百计地偷懒、怠工，并用其他投机取巧的办法，以尽可能少的劳动来换取同样的工资支票;无怪乎这样的劳动既不能给工人带来愉快，也不能让工人感到满足--因为人的自尊不只是建筑在一张工资支票的基础之上。
This relationship of the worker to his work is an outcome of the whole social organization of which he is a part. Being employed, he is not an active agent, has no responsibility except the proper performance of the isolated piece of work he is doing, and has little interest except the one of bringing home enough money to support himself and his family. Nothing more is expected of him, or wanted from him. He is part of the equipment hired by capital, and his role and function are determined by this quality of being a piece of equipment. In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the psychology of the worker, and to his attitude toward his work, to the human problem of industry; but this very formulation is indicative of the underlying attitude; there is a human being spending most of his lifetime at work, and what should be discussed is the industrial problem of human beings, rather than the human problem of industry.
工人与劳动的关系乃是工人所属的整个社会结构带来的必然结果。由于工人是被雇用的，所以他就不会积极主动地发挥作用。除了按规定完成他自己的那部分孤立的工作任务外，他再无任何其他职责;除了想挣得足够的钱拿回去养家糊口外，他对其他一切事情都不感兴趣。社会对他也没有更高的指望或要求。他只是资本家所雇用的机器设备的一部分，这种作为设备的一部分的性质就决定了其作用和职能。近几十年来，人们已开始越来越关注工人的心理及其对待工作的态度，探讨工业中人的问题，但这种提法本身反映了一种不正确的态度;既然是人将一生中的大部分时间用于工作，那么，应该探讨的就不是什么工业中人的问题，而是人的工业问题。