“Bullshit jobs are jobs or tasks that are deeply useless, but whose performers claim the opposite, whether out of constraint or credulity,” writes Nicolas Kayser-Bril. In Full-time fraud: why bullshit jobs are taking over the world,
published this Thursday, the Franco-German journalist analyzes these “non-essential” jobs that exist in many companies and administrations.
He who has held several positions of this type during his career knows what he is talking about. He quotes bogus consultants, project managers with abstruse missions… And explains to us who these positions benefit and what harmful consequences they entail for those who occupy them and for society.
Isn’t the definition of bullshit jobs subjective?
Yes, of course. No profession is 100% bullshit, but some accumulate tasks that are not useful.
In which fields of activity are there the most positions of this type?
No economic sector is spared from bullshit jobs. The field of consulting is undoubtedly one of those that are at the top of the ranking. In general, business services are quite conducive to bullshit jobs. As shown by some services sold that have no use, especially in the field of recruitment assistance. Software using artificial intelligence in the recruitment process, for example, has never proven its effectiveness. And yet, they are still marketed!
According to you, the administration is also a breeding ground for these bottomless positions…
Not the whole administration, of course. Bullshit jobs appear when an organization does not set well-defined missions. This is the case for many parts of the public service, where it is difficult to carry out the original mission for lack of means, and where it will be supplanted little by little by other missions that are feasible, but without real utility.
Why are there so many unnecessary jobs while at the same time companies are chasing costs?
If we look at the economic news of recent years, several companies in difficulty have been saved thanks to the intervention of the State. This would suggest that the economic efficiency of companies is not as important as one might think. Hence the fact that some positions, although not very useful, persist in companies, including those that are weakened.
Are these jobs systematically management positions?
No, all levels of society are affected and these jobs are not always very well paid. But it is true that their proportion increases when one rises in the social ladder. Especially since over the past twenty years, we have witnessed a multiplication of missions without real substance for certain executive functions, such as the production of reports that no one will ever read, reporting actions that are completely useless…
Are these professions sometimes simply intended to offer managers career development?
Absolutely. They give legitimacy to people who need a job corresponding to a certain prestige. In this case, the bullshit jobs correspond to the defense of an inter-self. Those who obtain them are the employees who have the best behavior vis-à-vis the organization. The company highlights them with a post with a high-sounding title, without necessarily being able to explain what it covers as functions.
Does the fact that these positions are based on vague missions make the evaluation of those who occupy them impossible?
Yes, since the task is not clear, the manager does not have specific criteria to verify its proper execution. This makes the evaluation of the employee based solely on his relational sense and his loyalty vis-à-vis his hierarchy, but not on the quality or otherwise of his work. It is also quite reassuring for those who occupy a bullshit job, because they will never be in professional failure.
Are those who occupy bullshit jobs aware of this?
I don’t think that’s always the case. Because some people do not question the purpose of their tasks. They have a fairly legitimist conception of their position in their company: if they have been given this position, it is because it has a reason for being. Others are almost alienated from their work and are therefore unable to question it.
You talk about having held a bullshit job in a development agency. Did you feel a certain guilt at being paid with public funds for a job that you did not consider useful?
No, because I was aware that it was a systemic problem. The act of accepting such a job or refusing it would have had no effect on his persistence. On the other hand, I felt a form of guilt vis-à-vis the beneficiaries of the program of the development agency for which I worked, because the countries which received the most money were not those which had the most need.
But isn’t there a significant risk of bore out (the syndrome of burnout due to boredom)?
Absolutely. Occupying such a position for years, if one is aware of its emptiness, can be a difficult experience to live. And lead, in the worst cases, to a form of depression. In my case, when I became aware that I occupied such a position, desires for retraining were born immediately. This allowed me not to let myself be locked into this type of job.
The Covid-19 crisis has shed light on so-called essential jobs. Does this predict a gradual decrease in bullshit jobs?
This crisis has laid bare certain contradictions: the most useful jobs are not those that are valued, neither socially nor through raises. One would have thought that based on these findings, companies are reviewing the wages of those who have been considered essential workers. This is happening in the hotel and restaurant sector, where wage negotiations are currently taking place. But unfortunately, this is far from being the case everywhere. With the health crisis, some employees have also questioned their professional choices and decided to retrain. But we are far from a real societal revolution on work.
Do you think that millennials, who have a different relationship to work than their elders, will refuse to hold such jobs?
It’s possible. Because they are certain that the fact of working will not necessarily allow them to have significant financial means. Hence their greatest demands on the meaning of their work.