White collar workers find it harder and harder to feel a sense of satisfaction with their jobs as the fruits of their labor become more intangible and more difficult to define. As the information age pushes more companies away from physical production and towards data and information management, desk workers often notice that success in their jobs is defined as having more to do with coming in on budget or on time than in doing good work. As a result, workers can often feel envious of counterparts in physical production, who have a tangible product to represent their labor at the end of the day.
See "A Modern Conundrum: When Work's Invisible, So Are Its Satisfactions", Jared Sandberg, The Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2008