"Following the release of her critically acclaimed fifth studio album Be the Cowboy in 2018, Mitski announced in September 2019 that her performance in Central Park (with opening act Lucy Dacus) would be her "last show indefinitely", but that she would not be quitting music.

She sings about her anxiety about living her life in the public eye, feeling unfulfilled due to only working for "the knife", struggling not to give up on her creative aspirations, and being worried that no one will relate to her music.

[17] MTV News's Patrick Hosken wrote that "[Mitski's] power is on full display" in "Working for the Knife", and that she "sings with resolve" and that the lyrics were "extremely real, end-of-your-twenties kind of shit".

[11] Abby Jones of Consequence wrote that the song was a "strikingly relevant" critique of "hustle culture" that "offers piercing anecdotes about Mitski's own perceived shortcomings" and has "sweeping, roaring instrumentals".

[21] Writing for the New Statesman, Ellen Peirson-Hagger called it "a powerful, taut ballad that examines how it feels to live in a world that sucks the humanity out of you at every turn", and described her voice on the song as "rich" and "mesmerising".

[10] Writing for Slate, Shasha Léonard described the song as "understated", calling its "relative subtlety" "purposeful and powerful" and "emblematic of what continues to lead some listeners to revisit and fall in love with tracks of hers they may have initially dismissed".

[22] Vogue's Emma Specter stated that the song "definitely capture[s] some of the surreality and loneliness that so many of us have felt" during the pandemic, also writing that it "combines [Mitski's] signature mix of lyrical alienation and hope".

[8][24] Rolling Stone's Angie Martoccio wrote that Mitski was "sharper and wiser than ever" on the song, adding that it "arrives with the kind of energy that tosses you back in your scarlet theater seat and keeps you nervously eating popcorn".

[22][3] Pitchfork's Eric Torres named "Working for the Knife" the best music video of October 2021, writing that her "forcefulness" was "cathartic" and "reveals the intense loneliness that comes with putting your whole self out in front of an audience that’s all too eager to consume every moment".

[29] Kate Brayden of Hot Press described the video as "gritty and beautifully intense", and wrote that Mitski's "dedication to both sonic and physical presentation is on full display".