Working: What We Do All Day review: A critical view of the American workforce

Working: What We Do All Day documents the working experiences of various Americans across class and what their jobs mean to them. The docuseries is now streaming on Netflix. 

Story

In the docuseries narrated by former US President Barack Obama, the viewers get to see the different jobs of the American people at various levels of the workforce and how these individuals find meaning in their work.

While discussing service jobs, the show introduces Elba, who works as a housekeeper at the Pierre Hotel in New York City; Randi, a home care aid at At Home Care in Mississippi; and Carmen, a delivery driver at Uber Eats in Pittsburg.

The middle-class workers include Beverly, a switchboard operator at the Pierre Hotel; Luke, a data manager at Aurora Innovative in Pittsburgh; and Sheila, a supervisor at At Home Care.

Then there are people who have dream jobs. These include François, a general manager at the Pierre Hotel; Karthik, a senior robotics engineer at Aurora Innovative; and Kenny, a lobbyist at At Home Care.

Finally, at the top level, there are the bosses. There is Chris, co-founder and CEO of Aurora Innovative; Chandra, chairman of the Tata Group in Mumbai; and Jeanette, founder and CEO at At Home Care.

Positives

The docuseries gives equal importance to the work of all the individuals in the show, be it a CEO or a delivery driver. It gives due acknowledgment to the work of those employed in service jobs and even shows how taxing the work can be. 

There are brief history lessons in every episode that chart out the evolution of the different levels of the workforce. These lessons allow the viewers to understand matters like how social biases seeped into lawmaking and how that now affects the lives of so many employees.  

The docuseries is also critical in its approach. The viewers get to see how in the United States’ capitalist economy, only a small percentage of the population can actually live the American dream; the rest can only dream it.

The documentary asks important questions that will make the viewers think. Some of these questions are asked by President Obama to various individuals, which allows the viewers to see how different the answers can be depending on factors like class and generation.

Negatives

While the individuals in the docuseries talk about their work, the viewers do not get to see their work in depth. The docuseries even shows glimpses of their life outside work, and that just makes the viewers wish to see more of them at their workplace.

Verdict

Working: What We Do All Day is a docuseries that will allow the viewers to understand the work and experiences of individuals at various levels of the workforce and through that, the disparities that exist in our modern societies.

It is a docuseries that explores its subject matter in the most interesting way. The viewers should definitely give it a chance.

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