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The article takes as its starting point the original perspective taken on labor in Judeo-Christian mythology, through the framework of sacred hermeneutics. From there, it aims to show how the concept of labor has evolved over the centuries, becoming much more polysemous and complex, until finally merging with the idea of the individual at work. Originally a form of divine punishment according to Genesis, and the very locus of injustice according to the gospels, labor eventually became the means through which humanity can reconquer its lost power through human effort. Admittedly, this is not a linear evolution. It has fluctuated over the years according to mankind’s standpoint in the world and the course of human relations. Nonetheless, it seems to have retained its pyramidal structure, initially inspired by Judeo-Christianity. In modern times, from Taylorism to the emergence of the competence model at the dawn of the third millennium, humanity has maintained a dialectical relationship of love and hatred with the world of work, in the same way that its spirituality is made up of both darkness and light, both the need for introversion and the desire for openness and emancipation. Finally, the article will tackle the concepts of artificial intelligence and big data, behind which the gods of the new world appear to loom. It will argue that today, in an era of increasingly complex globalization, the relationship with work would undoubtedly benefit from being redefined.