仕事
しごと · shigoto · JLPT N5 · noun
employment
💼 仕事 = serve (仕) + matter (事): the matter you serve is your job
仕 means to serve or attend, and 事 means matter or affair, read goto here (koto voiced after shi). Work is literally the affair you attend to. Sound hook: she-GO-to work, since shigoto has go to hiding inside it.
事 — hand 又 holding a banner/tablet on a pole
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) grasping a pole or ceremonial banner used by an official, depicting the act of conducting court business. From this it came to mean 'affair, matter, business, service.' It shares an ancient origin with 史 (scribe) and 吏 (official).