Bullshit Jobs: A Theory

Over the course of the last century, the number of workers employed as domestic servants, in industry, and in the farm sector has collapsed dramatically. At the same time, ‘professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers’ tripled, growing ‘from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment.’ In other words, productive jobs have, ... See more

Those who work bullshit jobs are often surrounded by honor and prestige; they are respected as professionals, well paid, and treated as high achievers—as the sort of people who can be justly proud of what they do. Yet secretly they are aware that they have achieved nothing; they feel they have done nothing to earn the consumer toys with which they

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1. On the individual level, why do people agree to do and put up with their own bullshit jobs? 2. On social and economic levels, what are the larger forces that have led to the proliferation of bullshit jobs? 3. On the cultural and political levels, why is the bullshitization of the economy not seen as a social problem, and why has no one done anyt

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This description might sum up the author’s view of the global economy and those tasked with (or conscripted into) maintaining it. One myth that these confessions debunk once and for all is that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector in its employment practices. While derisive phrases such as “close enough for government work” h... See more