Bullshit jobs

Surveys in places like Britain and Holland reveal that nearly 40% of all workers are convinced that their jobs make no meaningful contribution to the world. Another 13% say they are not sure. This means that about half of the workforce thinks their job is necessary while the other half believes it is pointless. If you think about it, a janitor at a hospital can say I am helping patients and the doctors stay clean. The car mechanic helps other people get to work. The teacher teaches future generations the skills they need to thrive. How do 4 out of 10 people working jobs feel that if their jobs suddenly disappeared overnight it would either make no difference or make the world a better place. So, who are half the people who think their job has no meaning?

The Bullshit Job, as David Graeber has defined it, is a job so pointless that the person doing it believes it shouldn’t exist and you can’t admit it out loud to anyone. We have been indoctrinated since the rise of industrialism that work is part of what it means to be productive. So far as to say that any work is better than no work.

There is interesting evidence that humans evolved with the intent to work. But it isn’t enough to just work, we need meaning. A story of contribution that makes all this worth it.