Working. It's what most of us do for half our waking lives. It's how we feed and clothe ourselves and how we support our families. It shapes our sense of who we are, and of where we fit in the scheme of things.

Working is also what connects us. Almost everything around us is the product of human labor—much of it performed in faraway places, by people we will never meet.

Each month, WORKING brings us into the life of a single worker in the global economy. Intimate profiles of real people with real families, real struggles, real dreams, and real jobs.

Whyman Richards

Job:

Iceberg Wrangler
Location:

Newfoundland, Canada
Income:

$200/metric ton of ice
Other Jobs:

Fisherman, shrimper, sealer

For years, Whyman Richards cursed the massive chunks of ice that floated past his little fishing village. Richards was a fisherman, and he knew that an iceberg could sink his boat if he wasn't paying attention. But now the fish are gone, and Richards has found himself navigating toward the bergs instead of away from them. Turns out there's money in ice water.

Past Stories

Upcoming Story

Samanta moved to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for the same reason that thousands of other foreigners did: the oil boom. As the eastern terminus of a new pipeline carrying oil from the former Soviet Union to Europe and points west, the city has swelled with oil workers and construction workers, businessmen and engineers. And, as in boomtowns everywhere, with sex workers like Samanta. In a corrupt and violent society, it can be a very dangerous life.

Do you know a remarkable worker we should profile? The job must be outside the United States, and teach us something about our globalizing world.

Work connects us all. Tell us about yours and we will connect you to other workers around the world.