The Rise of Bullshit Jobs

“A bullshit job is a job which is so pointless, or even pernicious, that even the person doing the job secretly believes that it shouldn’t exist.” ~ David Graeber

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted the working week would be drastically cut to 15 hours, with rising standards of living and technological advances satisfying material needs and leading to increased leisure time. Although we live in the most prosperous time in all of humanity, the expected decline in working hours and increase in leisure time hasn’t become a reality. A report comparing employment in the US over the last century showed that, while the number of workers employed in industry and in the farm sector has collapsed dramatically, professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers tripled from 25% to 75% of total employment. As Keynes did predict, productive jobs have largely been automated away but, rather than allowing a reduction in working hours to free us to pursue our own projects and passions, the administrative sector has ballooned and created entirely new industries (like financial services and telemarketing). Similarly, it has expanded sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations.

“The thought occurred to me that if one wanted to crush and destroy a man entirely, to mete out to him the most terrible punishment … all one would have to do would be to make him do work that was completely and utterly devoid of usefulness and meaning.”

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The House of the Dead

A 2015 poll in the United Kingdom revealed 37% of people believe they have a job that is “utterly useless” and which makes no meaningful contribution to the world, and 33% do not find their jobs personally fulfilling. In a 2013 survey of 12,000 professionals by the Harvard Business Review, half said they felt their job had no “meaning and significance,” and an equal number were unable to relate to their company’s mission. Another poll among 230,000 employees in 142 countries showed that only 13% of workers actually like their job.

Our experience shows there is no shortage of talent and passion in the global workforce, but that traditional organizational structures inhibit motivation and remain incapable of tapping into the potential of an individual.

If we want to truly unlock the human capacity for innovation, we need to radically rethink how people work together and the very definition of “work” itself. rLoop has a vision to do just this. Follow me for more on how we intend to realize this vision, and join us today to learn more.