This thesis is about the association of economic and social aspects to the meaning of work phenomena. Considered in an articulated way, these aspects enable the observation of the worker as a social agent, through the theoretical perspective of social classes. Pierre Bourdieu s Theory of Social Conditioning stood out as a theoretical lens useful in the consideration of this object of research. Once stablished one specific group of interest – young workers at the Center of Rio de Janeiro City – the research objectives were: a) understand how the meaning of work phenomena happens among young workers from different social classes; b) set back the sources of meaning of work common to each social class; and c) identify the social determinants of the professional field related to each social class. Eighteen in-depth interviews were carried out with young workers who, for the purposes of analysis, were divided into two groups: north zone - concerning less well-off social strata; and south zone - concerning more affluent social strata. In general, the two groups emphasized the perception of work as a form of subsistence. Among the young people from the north zone group, professional activity has a strong moral sense, and among the ones from the south zone group, some hedonistic aspects are related to work, which would also be the performance of a vocation, endowed with a social function of relevance and impact. Work context and the family emerge as categories that explain the sources of the meanings attributed to work for both groups. However, among the subjects from the south zone group, there is a perception that such construction would take place in a reflexive way, being filtered by its own values and beliefs. The primary socialization of the young workers from the north zone group is marked by a considerable fragility of their scholar and familiar experience - in the sense of material provision. In contrast, the subjects from the southern zone group enjoy an axiomatic school experience and broad family support.