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This spring and summer, a lot of headlines about the economy sang a similar tune:\nFrom CNN: Why American workers don't want to go back to normal\nThe Wall Street Journal: Job Openings Are at Record Highs. Why Aren\u2019t Unemployed Americans Filling Them?\nThe New York Times: Why Aren\u2019t People Going Back to Their Jobs?\nThe Washington Post: It\u2019s not a \u2018labor shortage.\u2019 It\u2019s a great reassessment of work in America.\nAcross the country, hundreds of companies and businesses, many of them in the hospitality and service industry, were searching for employees. And they weren\u2019t finding them. Some state governments began to halt the federal government\u2019s unemployment funds, worried that the cash was disincentivizing unemployed people from working. Companies and businesses began to raise salaries and add benefits. But many people weren\u2019t persuaded; they weren\u2019t going back to their pre-pandemic line of work.\nOne restaurant worker in Austin told The Washington Post:\n\u201cThe staffing issue has actually a lot more to do with the conditions that the industry was in before covid and people not wanting to go back to that, knowing what they would be facing with a pandemic on top of it. People are forgetting that restaurant workers have actually experienced decades of abuse and trauma. The pandemic is just the final straw.\u201d\nMany of us, especially those of us who are professionals, may believe our work matters...or at least it ought to. We\u2019ve heard Christian leaders make the case for work glorifying God and theological arguments being made to stir us to good work. But is this always the case? Has this framework, instead, ever been used to dehumanize and exploit workers?\nLuke Bobo serves as vice president of networks for Made to Flourish, a ministry that helps pastors and churches better understand work, and economics in light of their faith. He is the author of Living Salty and Light Filled Lives in the Workplace, A Layperson\u2019s Guide to Biblical Interpretation, and Race, Economics and Apologetics.\nBobo joined global media manager Morgan Lee and executive editor Ted Olsen to discuss if the Bible\u2019s instructions about work make sense today, what is different about work in this moment, and how to navigate the additional abuse and exhaustion the pandemic has brought on.\nWhat is Quick to Listen? Read more\nRate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts\nFollow the podcast on Twitter\nFollow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen\nFollow our guest Luke Bobo\nMusic by Sweeps.\nQuick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder\nThe transcript is edited by Faith Ndlovu\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices