Bullshit Jobs

Brief Summary

A bullshit job is one that even the person doing it secretly believes need not, or should not, exist. That if the job, or even the whole industry, were to vanish, either it would make no difference to anyone, or the world might even be a slightly better place.

David Graeber Graeber (2018)lists five different categories of job types: flunkies (whose job is to make the boss feel good), goons (such as corporate lobbyists whose job is to fight goons from other companies), duct tapers (who fix errors), box tickers (people who use paperwork or gestures to make it seem like they are busy) and taskmasters (people who manage but are unneeded). These jobs exist because people do not want to be accused of being lazy; modern managers want to justify their jobs and to create a sense of corporate feudalism. There are five types of bullshit jobs:

1. Flunkies, who serve to make their superiors feel important, e.g., receptionists, administrative assistants, door attendants, store greeters, makers of websites whose sites neglect ease of use and speed for looks;
2. Goons, who act to harm or deceive others on behalf of their employer, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists, community managers;
3. Duct tapers, who temporarily fix problems that could be fixed permanently, e.g., programmers repairing bloated code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags do not arrive;
4. Box tickers, who create the appearance that something useful is being done when it is not, e.g., survey administrators, in-house magazine journalists, corporate compliance officers, quality service managers;
5. Taskmasters, who create extra work for those who do not need it, e.g., middle management, leadership professionals.

Lessons from the Book

Many jobs are pointless or most jobs have elements of pointless activities. Pay attention to the people and the positions they hold. If you identify any of the five types, do not waste your precious time. Most importantly if you discover your job is nothing but bs, you must find ways to deal with its latent consequences. Many people suffered from bs jobs and others occupied themselves with learning other skills (e.g. languages, programming, etc.) while holding bs jobs.

A bullshit job is one that even the person doing it secretly believes need not, or should not, exist. That if the job, or even the whole industry, were to vanish, either it would make no difference to anyone, or the world might even be a slightly better place. - David Graeber

‘The Martian gaze of the anthropologist’ David Graeber. Photograph: Frantzesco Kangaris for the Guardian