How context and organizational neglect shape the experience of meaningful work

This study investigates how individuals working under conditions of high risk, social stigma, and institutional neglect come to perceive their work as meaningful. Focusing on electricity disconnection agents operating in Brazilian favelas, we explore how these workers construct meaning in a role marked by moral ambiguity, physical danger, and lack of organizational support. Based on 57 in-depth interviews and employing a grounded theory approach, we develop a process model explaining how meaningful work in such contexts can emerge – but also collapse – in cyclical and unstable patterns. We describe how workers temporarily sustain a sense of purpose by reframing their duties in moral terms, forging collective identity narratives, and voluntarily overcommitting to their work. While these strategies initially provide pride and social value, their effectiveness erodes over time due to cumulative emotional strain, ethical tension, and the absence of meaningful institutional support. Consequently, meaningful work is continually constructed, only to be broken down again in repeated cycles. Our study underscores the critical role of HRM not as a peripheral actor, but as a central mechanism that can either reinforce or undermine the meaningful work experience among precarious workers.