It tells me and others who I am. I feel a great sense of self-esteem as a result of my work. For some this self esteem is the identification with a name brand company. A partner at Some professions have a strong self-esteem factor to them. I am a doctor I am the rector of the parish.
Jobs do give self-esteem in many cases and that is good.
After these two answers we run out of anything substantive. Most of us do not have any more answers to why we work so hard. It is a daunting question. We won t be able to answer that here. That meant eight hours work, eight hours sleep and eight hours free time to do what you want to.