Twitter Is Cracking Up At A 14-Tweet Thread With Newspaper Snippets Explaining How “Nobody Wants To Work” Dated Starting 1894

They say the only constant in life is change.

Well, some might beg to differ. Recently, this one fellow came out with a brief rundown of another constant in our lovely universe. And that is the idea of people not wanting to work anymore.

Seems quite obvious, doesn’t it?

It is, but if you’ve taken research methods, you’ll know that in order to prove a point the proper way, it’s always better to have physical evidence of it in the form of printed publication snippets literally quoting actual people saying folks don’t want to work anymore.

More Info: Twitter

They say the only constant in life is change, but some might beg to differ because there’s another one, and that’s nobody wanting to work anymore

People working at computers in an office setting; highlighting the "nobody wants to work" sentiment.

Image credits: Henri Bergius (not the actual photo)

Researcher and instructor at the University of Calgary, Paul Fairie, has recently gone to Twitter to share a discovery of sorts. Being a newspaper enthusiast, he often stumbles upon curiosities that he shares on Twitter, and this time it was definitely a treat.

What he came out with was a brief history of “nobody wants to work anymore”. In a nutshell, it’s a good handful of snippets from between 1894 and 2022, nearly each of which represents a different decade in that time frame, and each of which contains some form of remark or complaint that folks no longer want to partake in the labor force.

Researcher and instructor Paul Fairie went to Twitter to share a brief history of “nobody wants to work anymore” in news snippets

Tweet by Paul Fairie discusses "nobody wants to work" historical snippets, dated July 19, 2022.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet from Paul Fairie about the "nobody wants to work" sentiment dated 2022 with 15.4K likes.

Image credits: paulisci

Text excerpt highlights a survey where 1 in 5 leaders say “no one wants to work,” discussing job application issues.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet reply from Paul Fairie in 2022, displaying the year "2014" related to work topic.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet discussing work ethic, stating "nobody wants to work," questioning changes in American work attitudes.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet with newspaper snippet about "nobody wants to work" sentiment from 2006, shared by user on social media.

Image credits: paulisci

But let’s break it down a bit. Not all snippets provide enough context to make precise conclusions, but the general gist is that there is usually some form of an employer or labor commenter attempting to explain a given contextual situation as being due to a shortage in labor, i.e. nobody wanting to work.

Contextual situations being: industries vary from coal miners to agricultural laborers to factory workers to even prisoners; the times and sociopolitical climates vary from the New Imperialism Era to the Great Depression to the World Wars to the Digital Revolution to current day post-Covid-ish times; the approach of the argument varies from those who talk about work as a point of pride and privilege to an issue of laziness or teenager mentality to labor strikes and labor rights. And all of it is wrapped into the theme of nobody wanting to work.

See? Constant.

The thread is comprised of newspaper snippets from 1894—2022, each containing some form of remark that folks no longer want to work

Tweet by @paulisci dated 1999, part of a thread on how "nobody wants to work," showcased with newspaper snippets.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet highlighting "nobody wants to work" sentiment, mentioning work preferences in a modern context.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet about "nobody wants to work" trend with year 1981, gaining 14.7K likes on Twitter.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet discussing the sentiment that "nobody wants to work" with mention of farming and hiring boys for clearing rocks.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet from 2022 referencing 1979 in a humorous thread about "nobody wants to work" newspaper snippets.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet with the quote "Nobody wants to work anymore," attributed to a disgusted businessman.

Image credits: paulisci

But all jokes aside, folks online found it quite interesting. If anything, it encouraged discussion and debate, mostly on the topic of fair wage and not letting business bleed workers dry while paying them peanuts in return.

Some even raised the question of when anyone has ever wanted to work. The general consensus was that work was a necessary evil that nobody could avoid. Besides, you gotta wonder how we as a species have managed to get this far over the 128-year period Fairie covered if nobody was really working.

The 128-year span covers the New Imperialism Era, the Great Depression, the World Wars, the Digital Revolution, and even current day post-Covid-ish times, which explains why people don’t want to work

Tweet with newspaper snippet from 1969 stating "Nobody Wants to Work Anymore," shared by user @paulisci.

Image credits: paulisci

A tweet from Paul Fairie highlighting a year, 1952, in a thread about newspaper snippets on work attitudes.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet saying "nobody wants to work anymore", part of a humorous Twitter thread.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet with 1940 newspaper snippet on "nobody wants to work" sentiment, highlighting labor issues in Wisconsin hospitals.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet with newspaper snippet from 1937 about labor shortage; highlights how “nobody wants to work” theme spans decades.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet from 1922 on Twitter about unemployment, mentioning "nobody wants to work anymore" as the cause.

Image credits: paulisci

Others started speculating what Fairie’s other threads might be. Among the guesses were “technology is going to get rid of all our jobs”, “kids don’t respect their elders anymore”, and “kids these days”.

Fairie also provided citations (well, Troy Petrie did, but Fairie pinned it to his thread, you get the idea) for those interested.

The thread got quite a lot of attention from the internet, garnering 312,000 likes with over 90,000 retweets

A tweet about 1916 in a thread discussing "nobody wants to work" newspaper snippets.

Image credits: paulisci

Vintage newspaper snippet discussing "nobody wants to work," addressing food scarcity and lack of effort in agriculture.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet by a user showing "1905," part of a thread about newspaper snippets on how "nobody wants to work," dated from the past.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet with text on scarce labor and working for wages, part of a viral thread.

Image credits: paulisci

Tweet by Paul Fairie showing a response with "1894," mentioning "nobody wants to work," dated July 20, 2022.

Image credits: paulisci

Newspaper snippet from 1894 discussing strikes and stating "nobody wants to work" during challenging times.

Image credits: paulisci

The thread got quite a lot of attention from the internet, garnering 312,000 likes with over 90,000 retweets and over 11,000 quote tweets. It even found its way as a repost on Imgur, and made it to some news media sites. Actually, the thread comes highly recommended because of all the memes that folks provided in response to it.

But before you go, we’d love to hear from you. Specifically, why wouldn’t you want to work—or why would you want to, we don’t discriminate. Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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