Abstract:
Work holds very significant place in our lives as most of us spend over fifty percent of our
waking life engaged in some form of work Work like other human activities such as eating,
sleeping and socializing essential to our very existence while unemployment has serious
consequences for individuals and society individual and societal aspirations for human and
societal developments are undermined by high level of unemployment Nigeria has witness high
rates of unemployment. This paper therefore traces the history of work and examines the social
significance of work, reasons for unemployment and governmental efforts in curbing
unemployment. The objective of the paper was to show how significant work is in human life and
how devastating unemployment can be. It also reveals that the root cause of unemployment is
capitalism. The study was anchored on two theoretical framework, the functionalist and
Deprivation perspectives. The Data for the paper was collected from secondary sources which
were published data in textbooks, journals and internet materials. The study recommends more
orientation on the dignity of labor, values of hard work, frugality and asceticism.
