Today, the work we do, the way we do it, our attitudes towards work and our working traits have changed a lot and are continuing to change. A study of the 'changing patterns of work is also a study of the differences between work today" and work in the African past.

In the present situation, all work is salaried. Everyone works to earn a salary. It is rare to find someone working for no pay. Today, as soon as someone gets a job, he asks, ''How much will you pay me." In the African past this wasn't the case!

Women today are no longer staying at home to do domestic work as the case was in the African past. The majority of women in and around towns and trading centres go out of their homes to look for work. Many women today are found in big offices, in markets and even in the army. This means that we no longer have separate work for men and for women. Hence a change in the patterns of work.

Today, education and work go hand in hand. In order for someone to get a well paying job, he or she has to go to school first and get trained (formal education) After training, it isn't automatic to get a job. At times one has to write several applications' and to do several interviews before getting employment.

Education has greatly influenced the' attitudes of learned people towards work. Learned people no longer value' manual work. They prefer the "white collar jobs" and leave the dirty "blue collar jobs" for the unlearned.

Today, there is wide spread unemployment unlike the situation during the African past . We have a number of smartly dressed men and women loitering on the streets of many African towns looking for jobs. This is partly due to the fact that they hate manual work in the villages.

Today's work is characterized by cut-throat competition whereby each worker is doing his or her best to out compete the other to continue surviving. Hence, witch craft, sorcery and death are closely associated with work nowadays.

Today's work is also characterised by bosses who determine our timetables and wages. This contrasts sharply with the African past where there were no bosses. In the past every worker was a boss of himself. Hence working patterns are changing.

In the present situation, we have new types of work that had not existed in the African past. There is professionalism in work. The types of work include typing, accounting and agriculture.

Work in the present situation is characterised by corruption. People want to attain quick success. Wherever you go, you are asked to first pay a bribe so as to get a job or a salary increment.          .

Today we have people who do their work at night (night shifts) e.g. Doctors and nurses. In the African past this wasn't the case. Night was time for sleeping. Hence a changing pattern of work.

In the present situation, the work of looking after children and making the home tidy has increasingly fallen into the hands of house girls. Women go to work leaving children under the care of house girls, which wasn't the case in the African past.

Nowadays there is too much selfishness and individualism at work. People work for individual or selfish gains unlike the African past where people worked for the good of the whole community.

In the African past, the elders helped the young to choose their future occupations. Today, the youths tend to determine for themselves what they want to do in the future which makes them to choose their careers carelessly. This has promoted inefficiency at work, laziness at work, dodging of work etc.

Today the struggle for survival has made people to do any piece of work they find. This has led some people to over work or to do jobs they are not talented for. In turn, this has created boredom and curses at work. For some people, work has become meaningless.

In the present situation there is too much leisure time unlike in the past where most of the time was for leisure. For example today we have long weekends, many public holidays etc. which were non-existent in the African past.

In the past people didn't have to move long distances in search for jobs but today, we have rural-urban migration whereby people leave manual work in villages and go to urban areas in search of jobs.

People today no longer have a religious attitude towards work. Prayer before work, during work and after work is no longer emphasised. In the past before going to war, sacrifices were offered but today soldiers trust in their guns and their own skills.

Today's work is characterised by brain drain whereby the trained young men and women go to richer countries to look for work to attain quick wealth.

Today's workers pay very little attention if any to the poor, the weak, -the needy and crippled. This wasn't the case in the African past.

Problems connected to the changing patterns of work

Salaried work leads to over working by people who want to become rich fast.

House girls who are employed to do the housework cannot do the motherly work very well; often they under feed the children.

Next is that some house girls end up disrupting family life. How? Some men fall in love with the house girl) which leads to divorce.

Specialisation in work today has made work to become monotonous, boring and meaningless.

Overworking has led people to turn away from. God i.e. workers do not have time for prayers.

Rural urban migration leads to unemployment.

Too much competition has led to witch craft and death.

Similarities between work today with work in African past.

Just as our ancestors worked to earn a living (get the basic needs) even us today, we work to earn a living.

In both cases, hard working people are needed for developmental purposes.

Just as Africans had a communal attitude towards work, some Africans today work too-ether for success. This explains why there are many co-operative societies, partnership businesses etc.

In both cases there is resting after work.

Both traditional Africans and some Africans today pray before embarking on their work.        

In both there are some people who work for the good of others.

Problems faced by workers today.

They are paid low salaries and wages yet the cost of living is too high especially in towns. They fail to pay fees, house rent etc.

Workers today are faced with stiff competition, which makes them uneasy. Unhealthy attitudes include witchcraft, killing each other due to the need to outsmart others and so on.

Workers face a problem of exploitation by the employers. They are made to do over time duties that are not paid for.

Employers tend to be harsh towards their employees. Sometimes they abuse them, prevent them from receiving visitors on the job, and even prevent them from going for burials.

Some people face a problem of unemployment whereby they are willing to work but fail to get jobs. This makes them frustrated and they resort to drinking or gambling.

Some workers face a problem of getting their salaries very late. This is especially true with civil servants whose salary may delay for 4 months.

Employees do not give many workers transport allowance and yet they are expected to arrive at the place of work so early.

Workers also face accommodation problems. Many employers don't provide houses for their employees and those who are not given houses are made to sleep in very poor houses, mostly in slums- houses that lack ventilation etc.

Workers also face a problem of retrenchment and unfair dismissals, which makes them frustrated and miserable. The immediate cut off from work leads to failure to run their families.

People are selfish at work, they work for material gains and this has led to the problem of corruption and embezzling of public funds.

Today there is no spirit of service in work. People do not want to help the poor and the needy.

Workers lack incentives at work, which reduces their morale. Without incentives, workers become less efficient and feel bored at work.

Some workers lack enough leisure time. They work from Monday to Sunday and at times at night. This makes them very tired, reduces their health and makes them strangers in their homes they don't get enough time for their children and wives. 

Workers tend to have strikes, which leads to misunderstanding with their bosses. Sometimes, the innocent workers are victimised and imprisoned while ringleaders bribe and go unpunished.

Psychological and social torture due to routine of work and strict time tables.

Workers face a problem of being overtaxed. For example traders. This sometimes encourages business evils such' as 'smuggling and making counterfeit notes (forged money).

Some workers suffer from public opinion about their work. For example, classroom teachers are minimised by some members of the public. This makes some professional teachers to avoid calling themselves teachers in public. One teacher said, ''No one can borrow you a reasonable amount of money if he comes to know you are a teacher." Some other workers who are minimised include porters, hawkers.