The Rise of BULLSH*T Jobs

[@Top10AnimeBetrayals]

My job pays $dirt/hour but it is a good job. 70 weekly hours are barely enough. I'm a gym cleaner and I've basically taken over the storage room and turned it into an organized functional place with an employee lobby in it with a floor clean enough to walk barefoot on. The studio rooms are always cleaned and organized to the level of perfection whenever I'm working there. All equipment fits nice and organized. If a member wants a certain weight, they will know exactly where it will be and can grab it as soon as they see it. The instructors and students often thank me for my high quality cleaning. Whenever I do something here, I'm proud of the results I see. Meaningful work is too good to give up

[@ishpeeedy]

Not all heroes wear capes

[@SilentBlindDeaf]

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@SilentBlindDeaf]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@jms7265]

I tip my hat to you Sir.

[@Nathan-uo3ll]

Just reading that had the effect of 10 asmr cat videos. You are making the world a better place just by caring that much. Hope you get the respect you deserve.

[@RahulSharma0809]

I worked in IT for 7 years had a decent run until I started losing interest. This year I finally took the step and now I'm into carpentry work. And I haven't looked back. The job is satisfying in a way I feel creative, imaginative, getting physically strong and skillful although on the downside I earn 70% less salary, still the satisfaction is immense.

[@voyager14]

I’ve dipped my toes in construction. It is super rewarding seeing your progress. Though if you work solo or in a small group the tasks like painting begin to drain on you.

[@asmitachatterjee5146]

Wow, I'm thinking of doing the same. I like my job, but I'm made to do so many other stupid stuff on the side that has nothing to do with my job that it's honestly annoying. I don't feel like my skills are utilized at all, and I always end every day feeling I could have done more, could have done something more creative and exciting. It's a pathetic feeling to face your unhappiness and disappointment every day. You just have one life. And I don't want to keep working for money. I'd rather do a job that pays less but is more fulfilling than one which pays a lot and leaves you empty inside. It's so inspiring to hear that you've had the courage to finally quit a cushy well-paying job in IT and pursue carpentry. It takes a lot of courage to make that switch and it's truly laudable what you did! Just hope I can do the same soon... put my fears aside and make the switch. Or else I'll definitely have a Fight Club ish breakdown soon 😆😂

[@BradleyCTurner]

Ive been in carpentry/joinery for 5 years now and was looking to actually go into IT haha. My main issue is feeling physically worn down, getting filthy everyday, and not great pay. I cant see many people doing this till the age of 50.

[@hashmo101]

If it was good enough for Jesus.

[@essennagerry]

Isn't thar why we work high paying jobs in the first place - to have the free time and resources to do what we _really_ want to do? So if your job pays 70% less but it gives you multiple hours of enjoyment a day then does it REALLY pay 70% less if you do the math? Imagine you worked your previous job but took up carpentry as a hobby, so you had to work 50% less, so you'd get 50% decrease is salary and also have only half of the time you can dedicate to carpentry now. Instead you now work in carpentry full time and still get 30% of that previous money, without doing any % of work on that job. So, I'd say in a weird, non-straight forward way, you're almost earning more money. Do you get what I mean? This is why, although I want to earn a decent amount, I'm not super worried about it, because I do think I'll enjoy my job as a teacher. I want to do it independently at some point too so I have more flexibility in HOW I do it, then I think it will be quite fulfilling despite the extra work. It's an important factor. If I work a job I don't enjoy, I better be earning crazy money. But if I do enjoy it, then I'll be fine with less, because in my mind I am so to say already using my time to do what I want to do instead of just waiting for work to end so I can then use the little time and little energy I have left to do what I want.

[@papasitoman]

I think for much of history, one knew the fruit of one's labour; you worked on a farm or in the army, a carpenter/blacksmith/potter, a dockworker, hunter/fisherman etc. You knew the community and co-workers. Now, many just type info into computers all day collaborating with people they never meet. We go home and sit in front of box, again. Nothing grows, nothing made, nothing to be proud of.

[@ameenabdullah3712]

Just the salary cming at the end of month.

[@nischalofchrist]

I'm 29 and as of now I'll take any job that'll pay me well. But deep down I know I'll never want to do something I don't like once money isn't an issue.

[@franciscoxavier99]

Welcome to the exclusive club ofauthentic world citizens!

[@freethinker3083]

Same!! Living paycheck to paycheck is just exhausting. But I also feel if I have a job that pays me well enough. I will have the money to create opportunities for myself like funding a business I want to create. You just can’t do that when your focus is working a second job or simply making enough for all your bills.

[@TheSTPhelps]

@@freethinker3083 guys I’m 22 and I do want a high paying job but I don’t know what I want to do and have no skills Fr I might just try the digital marketing path because at this point it’s coming down to I just want to be financially straight

[@MoAli-wm4of]

@@TheSTPhelps I’m 33 and I would say pick an industry or craft and really get super proficient at it … the better you are at it the more in demand you will be … sounds obvious I know but i wasted a bunch of time not honing in on anyone one thing and ended up doing a data analyst role, where I could have been in a much higher paid role if I had learned more of the coding/technical side …

[@theemperorstarwarslegends8075]

I'm going for cyber security but later on once I've saved up half my income for ten years, I'll go straight into getting my masters and doctorate in history. I know that sounds odd, but that is the one subject I'm passionately in love with. I wouldn't mind retiring with that.

[@ShaneHummus]

A++ Video, to be fair I haven't watched a single video from you that was a waste of time.

[@frordondanksey1822]

Good to see you m8

[@josephbrennan370]

Damn he is here.

[@TheScienceGuy10]

Damn I never knew you watched his videos

[@shivinunitholi2493]

I quit my "corporate" job coz I realized after long that you're just another seat and easily replaceable. I once told my ex-boss that I am learning a foreign language to add to my skills and she made a mocking statement and thereafter she would make some lame jokes on me for that. Typical Indian "leader". After 5 long years, I called it quits. A risk it was but I am happy with that decision. No more negative energy from any "corporate" douchebag anymore.

[@adityapathak5761]

What did you do next, man?

[@kapjoteh]

@@adityapathak5761 your mother

[@Kaigozen]

@@kapjoteh ayooo 😭😭

[@asmitachatterjee5146]

Can't believe she'd mock you like that! These are the same people who ask you for your skills and hobbies in every interview and want to know more about your "personality". And when you're actually trying to upgrade yourself, they wouldn't even appreciate the effort? Yes maybe you learning a new language won't help the company make a million dollars. But is it all about the profit? Whatever happened to individual fulfillment and satisfaction? I don't get the corporate machines.

[@ChrisPTY507]

This is why you should NEVER tell other people about your future plans on life: because their negativity will affect you sooner or later.

[@IsaacJoshi]

Jobs these days have become so high level and so abstract that it's difficult to feel the value of what you do

[@ShaferHart]

basically this.

[@ankushhh]

right and I think there's certain value to this abstractism because of the rising markets in various fields we can create value out of nothing for the sake of digging out profits. recently, the nft market is an example of this. what the sellers do there is increase the value of the nft artificially even if the art isn't meaningful, buyers include huge corporations that elevate their brand value through nfts

[@lucianocasanova8924]

A lot of more jobs used to be way more utilitarian back then

[@humanyoda]

@@ankushhh I wasn't aware of the NFT market before I read your comment.

[@urielmartinez2161]

They end up being surrogate jobs that are endless

[@stugots2863]

Dude spot on. I'm a consultant in IT, and going into my 6th year soon, making more money than I ever have and it's strange, because the tasks I do are stupid and have little impact or outcome on society... and then that turns into a vicious cycle of you feeling like an imposter or guilty for earning that much money, while having so much flexibility or free time... In about the 4th year in I started noticing after being to enough organisations that it was ALL the same. Read Graeber's BS jobs book earlier this year and yep, nailed it. So now I am using my free time, during work (since I can get all my tasks done in a fraction of the work week) to skill myself up, build a business and hopefully leave this prison one day :)

[@IsaacJoshi]

This really voices the concerns I have with most coprorate jobs. The world is so convoluted now that it's hard to actually deliver value to people in these roles

[@ShaferHart]

bs jobs normally do deliver value but we're too far removed from it for our monkey brains to make sense of it. If you didn't offer any value you would be let go.

[@nicosd3017]

Man. Thats why I want to get in a subamrine or whatever

[@IsaacJoshi]

@@ShaferHart yeah you have a point, although there definitely are jobs where no real value is being delivered just the illusion of value

[@lamexhill1113]

@@ShaferHart Not true at all. Value and merit are the least determining factors in the corporate world.

[@sadudas11]

@@nicosd3017 What was that?

[@jomakaze]

I have so much screen time on this video 😍😍😍

[@ShaferHart]

and it was from those loser days when you had long hair. Kept here for posterity.

[@animatedzombie64]

Do you like hot potatoes

[@ZAMislive]

joma's dream may come true to become director, may be... who knows?

[@JaiShriRam-2023]

Great... you'll be a star now 👏👏

[@gragfrenade7438]

The rat?

[@goddepersonno3782]

this hit me hard I'm still at Uni and doing an engineering course I've been slowly discovering the engineering industry isn't actually as meaningful and productive as I originally expected.

[@thewatermelon3831]

You haven't entered the workforce and already pre-empting it to be fruitless? As an engineer myself you don't represent most of us

[@goddepersonno3782]

@@thewatermelon3831 I never pretended to represent anyone other than myself.

[@thewatermelon3831]

@@goddepersonno3782 that is a weak stance. it's like saying you're a jerk but nah it's fine since it's my opinion so it's fine to say it. go experience it before forming an informed 'representation'.

[@goddepersonno3782]

@@thewatermelon3831 I don't understand what you're saying I had unrealistically high expectations for the engineering industry and discovered they were unfounded. This has nothing to do with anyone other than myself.

[@thewatermelon3831]

@@goddepersonno3782 the engineering industry basically created almost everything we have taken for granted. the room you're in, the car you drive, the computer you use, the video you watch, etc. someone had to put them all together to see what we see today. engineering deserves more credit than what you see from its academic front, please give it a chance. that said, i apologise for my ranting. it just irks me when someone discredits the field which i have total passion for

[@xaby996]

I started a house cleaning business a few months ago. I love detailing showers and deep dusting houses. It feels like art and is incredibly fufilling.

[@jv8studios]

Im glad you find your business fulfilling ! Great to hear from a passionate entrepreneur! Keep up the work rate 💥💥💥🔥🔥💯💯

[@NEXC]

What' is your email

[@fehyndana7725]

I wish I had the same passion for cleaning!😅 My place is always a mess

[@aparichit_2.0]

Plus you get some really good pipes to clean

[@lucianocasanova8924]

This is the route I am probably gonna take and start a tool restoration and repair business if I don't make it into machining

[@Sunny-zx4ej]

Yes I saw and experienced this lot of Indian moms working in IT looked down at me since I was taking care of their kids and worked in day care!! most of them dumped their kids as early as 7 am and picked them up at 6pm and people like me spent more time with their kids. But ofcourse they were rude, looked down on us, and some never even said so much as a good morning to me or my co worker. Frankly I felt sorry for them!!

[@teamwholesale612]

YOU are doing a great work. This is something which most people feel like a useless job.

[@DemetriPanici]

I hate when there is no merit based promotions in that world either. It’s ridiculous

[@robinferdous9164]

Usually promotions are handed to whoever sticks around and kisses ass

[@borrasca2311]

Slavery never ended in america

[@silverfox6883]

You gotta be a woman, bro ...

[@mimimarcus]

And even if it's merit based, the promotion goes to the person the manager sees himself in aka the mini me syndrome, and not to the person who has different strengths to the manager's.

[@MISTAKEWASMADE4live]

Merit is often times a very loose term, even in the military the people with the least achievements or lowest working hours or lowest skills often times get the most credit, the truth is merit is extremely difficult to judge and 90% of individuals cannot properly judge actions, so merit, even if properly defined is often times misalocated, thus not perfect.

[@diegoaespitia]

i was thinking this just the other day. i work in finance and... to be honest... im not really sure what i do. I open trust funds for banks.. or something. all i know is im working with a bunch of numbers and foreign banks. yet i get paid fairly well... for the little amount of work i do. but one day i went to five guys and it was packed. dozens of people ordering food and these poor teenage and college students were scrambling, cooking burgers, taking orders from angry customers... they work so much harder than i do yet they get paid much less... its all so strange

[@qcostello]

Thanks for your posting. Would you be game to have a conversation about this? I ask as I'm researching a film project about jobs just like this.

[@seanwieland9763]

The problem is most people in finance don’t question the assumptions like Modern Portfolio Theory, indexing, and ETFs.

[@JamesPhillipsOfficial]

The irony is as you get older and gain experience from "remedial" jobs means that settling in a cosy office, getting closer to management and doing less physical work for a bigger pay cheque is like the natural order of things. Who wants to be a binman or tradesman in their 40's and 50's?! Much of the aging workforce will prefer a BS job, however also i don't see a problem in not working, i would happily retire as early as possible and get into your hobbies not what someone wants from you to benefit them..

[@varse4388]

I was just listening to Cal’s audio book you referenced this morning and then watched your video. I’ve come to terms with the “passion hypothesis” and jumping from job to job trying to find your ideal/dream job isn’t the best thing to do. It’s hard to break out of the hustle culture mindset for us gen Y’s. Bohanes’ hierarchy of career fulfilment 1. Be mentally and physically healthy 2. Get an income 3. Have a plan 4. Follow your passion (if you must)

[@rnrtruestories]

great video. My last job was utterly pointless but my boss kept harping on how important the work i was doing was. When I got redeployed to another group due to budget cuts, i saw just how valuable my job was. I just quit a few months ago

[@DragonboltBlastter]

Holy sh1t dont expect you here

[@rnrtruestories]

@@DragonboltBlastter yeah i'm everywhere i guess.

[@dandee1022]

Ay man, nice to see you here. Keep on rockin'! Thank you for all the GnR' content!

[@David-eu1ms]

When I was hired for a full time position with the city municipality, we only worked about two or three hours a day, the rest of the time we were told to go somewhere else and stay out of sight.

[@drissalaoui103]

@@David-eu1ms why

[@marilynvdbroeck]

At work I once had to rewrite a Standard Operating Procedure document-- it took me months of back and forth, emails and meetings, different tracked change versions and resolving questions and comments from other departments on my rewrite of this SOP. Finally I got it finalized, but it didn't matter, because nobody enforces SOPs, so nobody follows it, and there are no consequences for not following it. The worst part was I had to act like rewriting this SOP was such an accomplishment for me and my department. I felt this video in my soul.

[@augustusbrown5320]

Smh

[@hasnainsiraj4883]

Sops make me go 🤢

[@Stefanovic92]

Cap 2020: "Grateful for my SalesForce consultant Job" Cap 2021: Quit his job: "F*CK CORPORATE OFFICE JOBS"

[@twitan-]

To be completely fair as someone working a SalesForce Jr. Position... Frick SalesForce LOL.

[@SuperAlphaKid]

Same thing , this year😂

[@Stefanovic92]

@@SuperAlphaKid same here haha

[@angelachanelhuang1651]

use the retirement services

[@SamDy99]

Cloud DevOps. I'm just loving it

[@mpower2386]

Carl Icahn told a story about a train/logistic company he once bought. There was a whole white collar department that he could not understand what they were doing. He hired a consultant firm to figure it out, they couldnt. He then sat with the operation exec, the exec that had the most contact with the actual day to day business of trains and moving goods. The exec told Carl that the whole department was nothing more then paper pushers. The day after, Carl fired the whole department, twelve floor of people in NYC... The business continued running like nothing happened..

[@jjeverson2269]

His biggest mistake there was hiring a consulting firm which is more useless than the department he fired

[@the_expidition427]

@@jjeverson2269 Consultants are only as useful as the value told to be created and used

[@the_expidition427]

Twitter defines this!

[@MaxMonsterGaming]

My lowest paying jobs (retail in college) honestly felt more fulfilling than many of the bullshit corporate jobs I've had.

[@attiumeyami417]

oh wow im glad I never got a corporate job. retail was hell. can't imagine sitting in hamster cage with a bunch of other useless individuals

[@the_expidition427]

@@attiumeyami417 Not creating value and non-productive it doesn't make those persons useless

[@grayzelfx]

You put down in words something I've been trying to articulate for years. I mostly do blue collar work (Truck Driving) but I've done white collar work that was maddening because I kept asking, "What is this accomplishing? We're literally throwing away money with these programs!" UGI Corp has a program called the, "Purple Star Program" specifically for employee recognition. The program costs millions of dollars every year to implement. It does nothing for the company, and ( this part is anecdotal ) is not wanted by the employees it recognizes. Teams of people work on it, and it does nothing. It blows my mind.

[@riezahmed9254]

I worked a bs corporate gig and he’s 100% on point. You just align on something all day and do rah rah stuff to make each other feel like you’re making a difference.

[@him050]

Yep, nail on the head there! A prime example from my BS corporate job is that twice a week I update this dashboard that tracks safety notices within the business. It takes me an hour to do, and I do it twice a week. No one looks at this dashboard, it's a complete waste of time. Yet I slave away and do it regardless. But if no one looks at the dashboard, then that means all of the trackers feeding into it are pointless too. This one BS tasks that is of no value to anyone, creates so much pointless work for people.

[@RisaBeesa]

Being unfulfilled on a daily basis is so mind-numbing. You don’t feel like you’re growing anymore and you become this stunted version of what you could be. This is a great video Nikhil. Thanks man. 💚🐝

[@RisaBeesa]

@Billy B that would’ve made me feel sad too. It really makes you rethink how we measure success… Income, status, career, education, etc.? Or happiness and purpose? I think it’s possible to have a combination of things going “right” for us. But man, wasting time and feeling without purpose or fulfillment sounds soul-crushing. I am willing to bet you’re more successful than you realize. 💚

[@skippy31415979]

I've felt myself losing my cognitive acuity the longer i do mind-numbing jobs.

[@aleccino]

Exactly how I feel.

[@cupboardofcheese1529]

Have you managed to find fulfillment?

[@Interdacted]

I went back to being an alcoholic, but I also don't work enough to make any savings by doing bad free-time choices. At least it keeps me going to work I guess.

[@Gamertrip4life]

I’ve just started to come to the realization in my senior year of comp sci that I might be facing this problem, which atm is a great problem to have (making a lot of money for a job that seems inconsequential) since I grew up fairly poor. But, the nice thing that you mentioned is I developed a hobby for working on my car and stuff, which has been so great because showing someone some data visualization program I’m working on vs the supercharger I’m trying to fit onto my engine has very different reactions.

[@PorkotylerClips]

Full-time Cap is really going to town on that KZbin algorithm with his regular uploads. This guy will one day be the King of KZbin.

[@David-so6kv]

Broo, I thought "fulltimecap" was a youtube channel you were on about. So I used the search bar to try and find it... 😖

[@PorkotylerClips]

@@David-so6kv There's only one "cap" and that's Captain Sinbad. Him and maybe Captain America but we're not doing doing Marvel stuff here.

[@GrendalTheBeasty]

I'm a software developer specializing in automating office tasks (consultant). Most stuff they have me automate is clearly useful (customer interactions, invoicing systems, etc) but I've had a few projects where I'm sitting there wondering not only why they are having me automate it, but why are they doing it in the first place? Prime example was a filing robot. Client received physical letters containing invoice information already in other systems, but they were scanning these into a system, validating the information and then storing it away in a database never to be seen again. I built a bot to do this for them (minus loading the industrial scanner). It saved them god only knows how many man hours per day, and it serves no purpose according to the people who were doing it.

[@tonymp]

Wow. I was just having a conversation with my wife about this yesterday. I feel a deep longing to find work that I really find a good connection to - something that gives a purpose. It's not something that's easy to find

[@faint3745]

It puts me at ease, knowing that there are people out there that are going through the same longings.

[@premiumpahl]

I’ve worked blue collar jobs my whole life but I’m currently working on getting qualified to move into a white collar field in order to help me advance in my KZbin and investing goals. I think white collar/corporate jobs are best to be “used” as a stepping stone to achieve your bigger goals because, your right, They aren’t fulfilling and meaningful in the long run. This reminds me of an earlier video you made about getting a work from home job as a means of funding your artistic passion.

[@Futureacquiescence]

As someone who’s been in the “helping” profession for the past 7 years, it is even more numb-minding and devaluing. I’m dying to get out. It’s made me depressed, drained, and left me feeling used. Be careful what you find “meaningful” and what you sacrifice. Some people can do it. I got sick of 30k/year salaries and costant emotional burnout.

[@thejubieexperience]

I hear you. The pay is so depressing. It's gotten a little better since Covid, but housing has increased as well. You give so much of yourself to others then you don't have the money to do much of anything for yourself. There's times when I wish I would have worked restaurants, so I could have had a pay bump and some time off. I'm looking for something else, but I feel bad for the people I'm helping. No one wants to work with them for these wages. I'm trying to stick with it until Covid subsides

[@al-imranadore1182]

​@@thejubieexperience What do you do now??

[@mead813]

I became a bicycle mechanic over the pandemic, and it was the most fulfilling job I ever had.

[@Frichilsasta08]

The most fulfilling job I had was being a customer service rep tech support guy for a small company. I basically helped old people find their electronic medical records on their computers. The amount of relief these people had after finding them was amazing lol. They thought they had accidentally deleted them even though my records had shown that they had downloaded the same file about 6 times. It was my lowest paying but most fulfilling. Now I work at a big corporation making more money, yet I work in an administrative role that could be easily sparsed out to several different employees.

[@woodenfishes]

The most fulfilling job I ever had was working for a glazing company

[@vagusmaximus3711]

How did you get the job? I wanna become bicycle mechanic too !

[@mead813]

@@vagusmaximus3711 I was riding everyday and made friends with the guys from the shop. After a while they asked if I wanted to work there.

[@vagusmaximus3711]

@@mead813 how u made friends with the owner?

[@user-nj1zu2nf1x]

Now you're stumbling onto something very deep. The managerial class has created these jobs at a thin air, most being paid over $100,000 a year. The pandemic showed how useless they were but they've still somehow managed to justify their existence even though everyone works remote

[@lemonstrangler]

managers are awesome tho

[@seanwieland9763]

That’s why they’re pushing RTO so hard. People figured out “job stacking” three BS jobs at once working from home to make over $1MM/year.

[@neilrussell6714]

I’m in business school as a backup plan when all I wanted to do was go to drama school (and I have extremely supportive parents) but I’m working so hard and I feel half of the class I’m taking are fucking irrelevant. A class like statistics is made unnecessarily difficult, all the major classes I’m stuck self teaching myself, and there’s like 15 core requirement classes you can’t credit out of because this school promises a “rigorous education”. I can’t even double major in what I originally wanted (theater) because of all the damn restrictions. Half of my family works for banks and even though they’re earning great money, they’re in their 20s and their hair is thinning and they’re miserable. They literally only live to enjoy the weekend. Like what’s the point if you’re only earning to drink and chill on the weekends? I’m grateful I’m involved in everything I love in clubs and activities outside of classes but when I’m in class it just seems like such a one track pursuit. Also, PS- Nikhil, I see you’re a man of culture at 4:17! Beyond hyped for DUNE as well :)

[@josephbrennan370]

Yeah it looked like a nice dune cover tbh.

[@purplebutterfly4078]

I was also one of those people who used to live for the weekends, can t even begin to tell you how bad it is and how much it sucks....don t do it....pursue acting.....you ll be way happier....and you can also run a small sidegig in your sparetime, if you want to....just make it around something you enjoy....that way....you will live life for yourself,not others and society s appreciation..it s great that you have the support of your family....it helps....

[@cdiessner711]

These insights came at the perfect time. Right now I've had almost nothing to do at my corporate job. Getting paid to do nothing is very dissatisfying in the long run.

[@bicyclist2]

As a young person entering the job market in the 90's I quickly found out that it didn't matter WHAT you knew, It only mattered WHO you knew. Thanks.

[@the_expidition427]

What matters is who knows you. What changes your life the most is conversations you're not involved in

[@waverider6133]

Who you know and who you blow don’t even really matter much anymore

[@Super_BeastGirl]

"Education" plays a role in this. The idea that these corporate jobs require degrees and the blue collar ones do not seems to contribute to the idea that one is worth more than another in theory, getting paid well with benefits, etc. While these seemingly "unskilled" job provide true direct and measurable value but "anyone" can do it. It's still bothersome, and I think there's probably some supply and demand here. Given the fact that there's a extreme shortage of people needing to be in the workforce may mean we see a shift in these unskilled jobs having higher pay and better benefits in order to appeal to people. We can only hope that is the outcome at least.

[@dinhnguyen2110]

The "anyone can do it" aspect is the very crux of the wage stagnation problem more so than the meaningful work problem. Wages and salaries are not reflective of how intrinsically valuable the work it. It is a measure of how 'replaceable' the work is. It's more of a power struggle between employee and and employer rather than a reflection of how valuable that worker's efforts are to a company. Making it so every position is 'necessary' is related, but not quite the same thing.

[@attiumeyami417]

probably not.alot of these so called "unskilled jobs" are offered by employers who have made their profits through many years of borderline slave labor. restaurants have shit profit margins for the most part. paying more will require them to cut even more into their small margins. they won't, they will just replace the employees with computers or go bank rupt.some skills will see higher pay such as it happened with plumbers and carpenters. but it all depends how much people are willing to pay and how vital the job is cause if u got for example.... a McDonalds employee asking for 70k a year (lol Ikr) The company will just invest in automation and cut the employees out. if there's a robot instead of a human no one will care as long as they get their heart attack in a bag. sure robots areent perfect but worst case scenario u got 1 human in the store to deal with the more complex issues until the automation becomes more efficient. however jobs like plumbing are a different story. ur average home owner docent know how to cut through a wall and fix a pipe. ur average car owner can't fix their own car if a job requires taking apart an engine. ur average person can't weld for shit. but guess what, when the walls start leaking or toilets stop working 1st world people go into depression. when the car refuses to work all of a sudden uber rides will start eating u alive.and when a metal part in either ur house or car collapses, welders are ur life saver. all jobs will be automated eventually but for now, u need the above but the ones that aren't vital will be automated rather quick. cashiers will be completely gone in about 2 years

[@lemonstrangler]

theres actually a lot of blue collar jobs with great salary and benefits. its just that they get trained in another institution to get their qualifications

[@DylanMurphyy]

Formal education is simply a barrier to entry and it's a barrier that most people can easily overcome if they set forth the time to study and get good grades at university; I would venture to say that most jobs requiring a university education aren't exactly skilled or useful to society. On the flip side many blue-collar jobs are highly skilled but they won't require much formal education to start out with beyond a trade ot technical school.

[@seanwieland9763]

Academia and Journalism are the enemies of the people. 💯

[@vishweshchorghade300]

Had the similar kinda discussion with my parents yesterday. The main reason people stay in corporate is money ,if you give anyone an out with 1 cr he/ she would be happy to do quit and start pursuing what they want. Another reason is everything we do in corporate is virtual, there's no physicality here like the furniture example you gave.❤️❤️. Love from India!!.. P.S-- Please try to collab with JONHY HARRIS once . You both are my favourite

[@ErrorNameNotFound123]

Only 2 videos since you quit your software job yet each has been a new peak, this is my new favorite vid from you, amazing! I'm a software consultant too and I hope to someday be able to work on tech I find meaningful, not just create generic software for a big bank.

[@ameenabdullah3712]

Try to solve problems . In India 2 girls started animall app for selling cows .

[@cat_alyst6306]

I agree with this however, hobbies, children, relationships are what’s really missing. I don’t think it’s appropriate to pin all of a person’s happiness factor on just their job. You are treating a symptom of a disease caused by disconnect. Everything that makes us happy requires work and the most meaningful pieces of work we have are arguably our relationships with others, and our community. Enrich those and you’re work won’t matter you will work to live not live to work. Thank you for the video!!

[@CaptainSinbad]

I like your point

[@mrorlov2706]

Yeah true I only work and spend time on my hobby and I am happy if I had to sea with relationships and kids It would definitely decrease the quality of life :)

[@shiiopkmn3644]

Have to agree on that. The toughest times in my life were directly linked to me having to do something I didn't want to. As soon as I realised that, I moved out of the expensive, fast-paced cities and took a low pay/low hours job in the countryside, dedicating my free time to free work, building stuff to help others, giving music lessons and activities for the kids, volunteering basically. And that feels good. I wouldn't say I have a job, I just do stuff and whatever I wanna do with the most time I can find for it. Well, I'm still working on it, but I think I can safely confirm that your life isn't your job. We don't live to work indeed, we work to live and then love to work !

[@jacobg8640]

I really align with this. The past couple of weeks I've had nothing to do at my job. This is actually acceptable to my employer because I will more than make up for it during busy season, but right now I am getting paid to do nothing. You'd think it's great while wfh because I can just get paid to watch TV or play games so long as I keep an eye on my email. But it's so unfulfilling at the moment. I feel like if I spent the extra time with a significant other or raising a family though, I would be much more appreciative of the time I now have.

[@cat_alyst6306]

@@jacobg8640 I totally get it!! Jobs should never be the full weight of your life. Your happiness, your income, your purpose. You should have multiple, healthy streams of all, income, happiness and purpose. Happiness should never be based in one area. You should have value to all aspects of your life to create an ecosystem where all will thrive even when failure is imminent. Never put any of your proverbial eggs in one basket. Add value to yourself, your family and your community and even in your darkest hours you will have crutches to pull you through and you will never have the will to fail because you have to much behind you pushing you forward. Charge on friend.

[@gooseofspooks2500]

This is why i'm planning to move to the countryside and start growing my own food as soon as i'm financially able to. I need to have meaning in my life and to be able to work with my hands and see the fruits of my labour (quite literally in my case) I hope everyone else struggling with these things finds what they want to do with their life as well 👍

[@IsaSensei]

18:23 - "acquire fulfillment regardless of the job you're in" That's what I started doing after working for 2 years in my "BULLS***" job, where it pays very, very, VERY well, but it feels pointless at the end of the work day. So I decided to work on KZbin, develop personal skills, and to make time for my hobbies, and then my life started to be a bit satisfying, at least for the part where I'm not at my day job. Don't get me wrong I don't "HATE" my day job, I actually enjoy it, but I don't feel any sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

[@Approximation]

Out of curiosity what is your job

[@IsaSensei]

@@Approximation I am an IT Technician

[@nickagrinzone]

Even though I’m not making money off my KZbin channel, I find myself in the same spot you feel about feeling inadequate if I perceive a video as “not being good enough”. It’s a concept I’m learning to unlearn (ironic) that even if I find later on ways I could have made that video better, it doesn’t make the original video meaningless. Furthermore, not every video has to be super impactful. I fell there’s a lot of pressure for artists especially to create something revolutionary, that we forget to simply create even if the result is a simple product

[@Shauma_llama]

My friends don't understand how a good paying job with benefits can drain you. They don't understand the frustration of sitting there thinking "this is all bullshit".

[@mpower2386]

The way I motivate myself in my "bs" job is that I develop the skills to automate the grunt work/eliminate the useless tasks. I found comfort in knowing that my co workers and myself wont have to spent so much time on the dumb stuff.

[@tommak6516]

What do you do if your entire job is a useless task?

[@gavinstuart6704]

I serve in the royal navy, the pay is decent and the benefits are great, and sure if you left you could probably earn a higher salary but i feel like I have such a purpose working with like-minded people and really makes you feel satisfied when you see the effects your job as such as directly helping in a humanitarian crisis. The purpose the job gives is what keeps me in the Royal Navy.

[@sawedoffshottyshane9637]

The Royal Navy is the National navy of England right?

[@gavinstuart6704]

@@sawedoffshottyshane9637 it’s the armed naval force of Britain / UK, people from Scotland like my self, Northern Ireland and wales can all serve within it. We also take in people from the common wealth

[@fnuppyfnup]

Respect to you man, Im sure you are a decent guy but I don't think working for the uk navy is honourable any more due to the fact that the uk has done nothing but attack other nations lately under the disguise of democracy. An army that defends their nation from foreign attack is worthy of admiration only.

[@gavinstuart6704]

@@fnuppyfnup all entitled to an opinion, at the end of the day the navy is here to serve UK interests. But I believe the navy does an awful lot more good than bad. We constantly give aid to those who suffer from earth quakes and floods in less fortunate regions

[@fnuppyfnup]

@@gavinstuart6704 that is a fact

[@jeopardy60611]

The biggest problem with the corporate jobs is that you are forced to sit in a cubicle and fill time, and there is nothing in the cubicle or in the office that shows you HOW to fill all that time.

[@rezanhasan8161]

This really resonated with me. A purpose and meaning is essential to keep us going once survival has been checked off the list.

[@DiamondDubs]

I left my first corporate job recently, I worked there for 3 years. I have no more savings. No money to live off and pay the bills or we are homeless. Unfortunately I'm stuck looking desperately for another job. Nobody wants me, and the only jobs available are 12-14hr jobs in warehouse or call center, never touching those jobs. I just can't take it or I just wouldn't want to live anymore. I'm just stressed and anxious 24/7. I have a chronic illness which makes everything harder. Nobody cares. I've tried everything possible to make money, even stupid things. I run multiple online businesses, have multiple KZbin Channels, I spent all my savings on trying to become a voice actor, which was my passion and the most i've made in a year is $30. I worked so freaking hard, even during my full time job all I did was grind outside of my job. I can't do this anymore, how do people live like this. My whole family thinks i'm a disgrace as I left a good paying job, but it was super toxic and stressful. Constant deadlines, daily meetings and managers making you stay unpaid overtime. I'm only 23. I can't do this for another 40+ years. I wish I knew what to do... I'm burned out from my passion, all I do is voice acting for free nowadays and I'm too busy nowadays to even take on small paid jobs. Just sick of this bullshit society.

[@fahds2583]

I've been there bro. Exactly the same story, except I quit at 27 after 4 years of filling in soulless hours at a consulting firm. Just hang on. In time the emptiness will go and your mind will settle. Just hang on. btw I've subscribed to your channel

[@natty.chungus]

Hitting the nail on the head, and it's not even "bullsh*t jobs" at this point but bullsh*t tasks even within a meaningful job.

[@lonerista4778]

I am so glad you made this video. Been doing a BS job for 5 years and will hopefully soon quit. These types of jobs are sucking out the soul out of people.

[@faint3745]

absolutely agree ! Its what I've been telling my friends as well, it literally sucks the soul out of you.

[@HammadBashir001]

Good luck for future endeavors...

[@random-accessmemory9201]

I just quit my job. I’m done. I’m too tired for this BS job. 😅

[@lonerista4778]

@@random-accessmemory9201 Hopefully that will be me soon!!

[@carldrogo9492]

Please don't quit...find a different job first, then leave.

[@papri4u]

I am a data consultant working for a big IT company. I make 4-5 reports everyday which none reads. Setup meetings with other people talking about how to optimise data quality but no action happens and I am considered quite good at my job.

[@GT-tj1qg]

"What do you do for a living?" "Pretend to be busy"

[@fluffysox6072]

Customer service was one of the most fulfilling jobs I ever had. I loved being able to connect with people and fix whatever issues they were experiencing. I loved recommending products that legitimately made sense for them. Some days I would legit jump off the phones and bounce around my apartment full of so much joy and fulfillment because I helped someone that day. I made the switch into customer success at corporate and my job feels deluded. I’m making more than twice as much 65k vs 30k and I get all of the perks that come with tech. But my job feels empty. I spend my days working on things that may or may not even get used. When people ask me what I do, I can’t give a clear answer. I am hoping that it gets better soon. I had a lot more fun in restaurants and customer service than I am having in corporate.

[@vincentpenschke500]

I am studying to become a music teacher and so far I love every part of my work!

[@jv8studios]

Keep going buddy ! 🔥What instruments do you play?

[@vincentpenschke500]

@@jv8studios thanks! I play the piano, trumpet and drums 👍

[@jv8studios]

@@vincentpenschke500 awesome man . Do you make beats aswell?

[@normcorecowboy6863]

Do you teach online? I play guitar, been thinking about giving lessons lately

[@vincentpenschke500]

@@normcorecowboy6863 No I dont, I make KZbin videos in my free time

[@osco50]

You said it, having a BS job that pays well and isn't hard is GREAT!! You can focus on your family and invest time in hobbies and whatever else you REALLY want to do. I've thought and even attempted trying to make one of my hobbies that I love into a way to earn a living or even a 'side hustle' but in my experience that takes a lot of the joy out of the hobby. If I need to worry about feeding myself and my family from a hobby that I love, it's becomes less a lot fun and my creativity is stifled from the pressure. Just my 2¢

[@lalelu6758]

No that is NOT great! As some people said, an unfulfilling BS job sucks the soul out of you, so it's just not possible to fell unfulfilled and miserable 8 hours a day at work, and then flip the switch to being happy and fulfilled in your free time - that's not how life works, everything is linked!

[@MidnightSt]

I knew I wanted, needed, to make games since I was 6... I had these worlds and things in my head that I wanted to experience and wanted to make others experience... I spent 15 years self-learning everything I needed to do that - programming, 2d and 3d graphics and animation, game design, level design, music composing, sound effects making... Literally all of it. I loved it, I had a goal that I considered meaningful (I'm going to provide people with games, experiences, which will enrich their minds), I was driven... ...then the reality of having to actually make money kicked in, and I had to go work for someone, because, at least back then, there wasn't much money in working on your own project, at least until there's something to sell. So I went to work on stupid websites for stupid companies, and for stupid clients who thought their idea of "like facebook, but better!" is revolutionary. It felt like I was a painter who spent most of his life up to that point honing his skills so he could paint the most moving paintings ever... ...and then I was approached by a rich dude who said "Oh, you're a painter? I've got a GREAT OPPORTUNITY for you! I need my kitchen walls painted pure white. Aren't you happy you met me? Aren't you grateful for this amazing job I'm offering you?" Now it's 10 years later, and I'm just about ready to spontaneously die. All my drive, all my energy, all my will to even try and do something, anything, is gone. I don't even feel like trying to work on my projects anymore, because nobody gives a shit anyways. Nobody ever gave a shit about what I want and can and need to give to the world. Everything anyone ever gave a shit about was which cog in their machine I can serve as.

[@sayanbanerjee2722]

Just break out. Gather a lot of money and quit . Start what you do and show it on KZbin. Let people see what ur doing. U will feel the value

[@michaelm2817]

Good video man.. I'd highly recommend Graeber's original article "Bullshit Jobs: A Theory" to everyone watching this, but you've done a nice job highlighting a central problem with most white collar work today, namely the obvious disconnect between all the time we spend on meetings, corporate protocol and bureaucracy, and the near complete absence of any tangible end product from our efforts. Think of all the time and thought that goes into power point presentations or market research reports. Do they actually lead to any real action? Does anyone even listen/read these things? Sobering stuff.

[@danwilliams3935]

This is essentially what Marx outlined in his theory of alienation, whereby a capitalist mode of production shrinks and simplifies the duties of a worker into something very specific, a tiny gear that's part of a much larger machine. Being this tiny gear, the worker is detached from how he fits into the machine/product as a whole and as a result is left alienated from the work he puts in, and because his sense of purpose is rooted in his work, he feels like his own self worth is stunted. I agree that it does seem like a "first world problem" to complain about working a stable, well-paid job, but humans need a sense of purpose, we give around half our working time to our jobs, so it needs to mean something

[@seanwieland9763]

Working is all about making money. Purpose should come from your time outside of work and what you invest your money into, not the job itself. “Making a difference” at work is bougie middle-class Boomer nonsense. Work is to make money, end of story.

[@edgarcalderon4345]

This video explains why I left the finance world and banks cause its literally everything you explain as a "bullshit job". Engineering is more rewarding, and makes you actually think on a daily bases.

[@ignazs.5816]

There's comments here that describe engineering the way you describe finance. I suppose there's no perfect industry.

[@f12736]

@@ignazs.5816 Nah. There are good industries. But everyone have their own views. Someone might not like what u like and vice versa

[@CarbonTaxLOL]

Barley though, sadly most engineers flog their work to the drafters who have to actually do the designs lol

[@seanwieland9763]

Finance is real but most people are trapped in the paradigms forced upon them as “The Truth”, such as Modern Portfolio Theory, indexing, and ETFs. That “truth” is fake.

[@thealbanianlorg6542]

The furniture building thing: construction work / house builders are often cited as one of the highest fulfillment jobs. Because you can see every house you built in the end. Every project has a visible, tangible, practical / useful result.

[@cocojumbo197]

Yeah but u are still nothing but slave if you work for someone, your body will pay price. You got to be your own boss

[@purplebutterfly4078]

exactly, this was one of the explanations for being so rewarding....

[@azzamfs]

7:25 it's so unfortunate when blue-collar jobs are looked down upon. They are just as important, maybe more important, than these BS white-collar jobs

[@rockchalkmarie]

I’m an accounts receivable clerk and my job is to call people about money they owe. It’s a bit stressful and ultimately my efforts to get businesses to pay are usually fruitless. However I’m making more money than ever and my company says I’m doing just fine. It’s not my passion at all but it’s where the money is.

[@jv8studios]

I hear you! What is your true passion ?

[@stevenmonsanto5324]

Did you study accounting in Uni? If you could go back in time would you change anything differently?

[@tommak6516]

Where I worked they asked people for ideas. The typical is items are delivered with packing slips, receipt is entered in computer by storeroom, companies send invoices, invoices are manually matched with receipt information in computer by accounts payable dept. and payment sent. I said just make payment directly off the computer receipt automatically and eliminate accounts payable along with a requirement for invoices. Everyone freaked out, it was too radical, they never did it that way before, and people would not be comfortable with it. So it was never implemented even though it makes perfect sense.

[@stefandesu]

Great video. I can emphasize with this so much. I'm in this weird position where my work is, I think, meaningful for some people in the field (certainly our project manager feels so), but since I'm not really interested in the field and just slipped into the job, it doesn't feel like meaningful work *to me*. This led me to reduce my working hours further and further to make it bearable and have more time for my hobbies, at the expense of money. While I'm okay with my job at the moment, I think long-term I should look for something else that really does feel meaningful to me.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

The world is exploitative. And now I get the lab rat analogy.

[@andrewdaywalt967]

I work a corporate job as an “analyst,” but I’m lucky enough where leadership basically lets me make up my own job. They give me ad hoc requests and in return they give me freedom. As a result I’m able to investigate inefficiencies that most people aren’t even considering. I also almost never set meetings and work through the ones I am in. I also never ask for someone to align with me or give me data. I ask for they keys and get the data myself, or automate it if I can. I like the end of the video. I learn everything that I can. I’m a communications major, but I taught myself database management and coding in order to accomplish something that I would have otherwise needed someone else for.

[@garyadamos]

Lol I’m literally in the same position, data analyst - manager give random tasks to do, and I automate everything I can, learned databases/ coding by myself haha :]

[@BarEscm]

As the official translator into Spanish (for Spain), I fully recommend the book in which this video is based: Bullshit Jobs, by David Graeber, is a fascinating eye-opener, and absolutely a must read.

[@BrendanMcGinley]

Seems more plagiarized than based but yeah, the original is great.

[@John_Fx]

So true. My job requires logging into an account I don't use frequently every 28 days to keep it from being disabled requiring a series of emails and manager approvals to get the account re-enabled. I timed the process of just logging into the system to ping my account to activate it. It took 13 minutes on a SPEED RUN and responding to about 11 different authentication prompts with a combination of 8 pieces of information to authenticate.

[@jept3743]

I've got an Econ degree from a top-tier state university, and I had enough of the BS investment space. I got real about what I wanted out of a job, and became a trucker. And I love it. If feels so right to blindside back a trailer or can into a narrow spot. Skills baby, for the people!

[@rodneynoriel1528]

I’m retired also with a BS in Econ and just recently thought to myself watching videos that if I ever had to do it all again, I’d want to be a trucker. Good job 👍

[@djenkins555]

This is so spot on. I have an MPM. I'm unemployed and do not want to return to an office. I'm looking for physical labor now. No more cubicles and meeting rooms!

[@stephen-finance]

Feel fulfilled and satisfied with this video man! I’ll have to check out those books. You very well articulated some ideas that I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. We under value those that deserve our thanks, and put those that barely contribute anything of substance on pedestals. It’s crazy that a lot of these positions promote based on time in the company rather than on any real merit too. Definitely a broken system. Thank you!

[@MarideMari82]

This perfectly describes my previous career. I’ve been so inspired by KZbinrs that I managed to escape it and now run my own business. Thanks for talking about this! I hope it helps people to look for more meaning in their work 💗

[@AM-ry8is]

"lower-order" work such as cooking, building a home, farming, hunting and gathering, is inherently meaningful.

[@lucianboar3489]

I work in a bank, in prudential reporting. You could argue that the more complex the reporting becomes, the safer people's savings are and the shareholders' capital is less exposed to risks. So that gets me going purpose wise. Plus it's like playing a game where you have to solve problems, nevermind how important that solution is in the grand scheme of things. But yes, maybe in the larger picture we should be making stuff instead of these fine tuning jobs (at best, BS at worst). This means that the centre of the world has moved to places like China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam or Indonesia and we in the west live in a sort of Matrix where thankfully at least we (very few of us for the rest) produce our own food and , for now, some do very important research. But it fucking scares me when I see how the stuff that was made locally in my city 100 (hell 30) years ago is imported from China or other places. It is very scary.

[@peekpurple5444]

Imagine this: When you are unemployed, you have to register somewhere, so that companys can see you are available and call you to work for them. Basically a recruitment firm belonging to the state. But the companys don't hire people by themselfes anymore, they use recruitment firms for that. So basically, you are on a list, to get on a list to maybe get a job, where you have to yeet 1/3 of your salary over to the recruitment company. And these recruitment companys are everywhere! With CEO's flexing in there Porsche's they payed with the money of actually hard working people. If someone told me that, when i was like 12 years old, i would instantly recognize it as a scam/stealing.

[@deni1470]

you've really captured the unease i feel about ever working a white collar job. i'm 29 and i've done blue collar work my whole life and i always found that despite the less than stellar pay, i always took something out of the final result, whether it be working at a restaurant and seeing my food go out to happy patrons or when i renovated houses and a family would come in and love the look of where they lived. the two things that do appeal to me about white collar work is 1 - the money (lets not fuck about haha) and 2 - energy. i am consistently exhausted from being on my feet all day and as a result i'm inconsistent in chasing my passions outside of work because i'm so drained. thanks for this video man, its really given me food for thought as to maybe swapping collars for a few years. here's to you!

[@jaujud]

What I learned today is that there's a phrase "touch tactically" and I'm totally going to steal it 😂 Jokes aside this video hits right in the feels. Recently I've been struggling to find meaning in my work as a software engineer. I also agree that it has to do something with all our work being digital and seeing no tangible results in front of us. I've also been pondering with the idea to start making furniture in my free time as a hobby. There's just something special about working with wood and other materials, shaping them with your own hands to produce some final product.

[@the_expidition427]

Did using that verbage find any impact in meetings?

[@burnindownthehouse]

I worked a job at a huge pharmaceutical. Their #1 division was diagnostics, not pharma, although they do make billions from pharma because that division is so huge, too. It was just one huge moneymaker. The place was just soaked in huge amounts of money because of successful lobbying on the part of their lobbyists controling our government. They rigged the system so that this pharmaceutical would always see massive profit margins no matter what. My job was crucial to the corporation, yet completely pointless to me. It had no worth whatsoever once I punched my timecard and left the facility. People asked me what I did and I couldn't even tell them because it meant nothing to the outside world. However, when I told them who I worked for, they would always say, "That's a great big corporation! Cool!" But it wasn't cool. It was mind numbing. Basically, I was just a cog in the wheel. My job was to be a technician who repaired equipment for the manufacturing line. Every minute that line was down meant that thousands of dollars were being lost. But none of that meant a thing to me because I would never see those millions. I would see a meaningless hourly wage that would give me just enough money to buy food and pay the rent so I could come back to work the next day and make even more money for the billionaires who controlled the whole operation. And how did they ensure that they would make billions more per year? Dirty lobbying in our nation's capitol. You get the point of what I am saying here- you're really just a cog in that wheel. The corporation itself doesn't want you to know how they fix the game. They want to keep you in the dark. They don't want any of that type of information flowing down to the workers. The game is fixed. They just want you to know enough so that you can come back to work for that hourly wage and make sure their billions of dollars will be guaranteed. Once you realize that you are at the bottom of the structure and you do not share in their rotten and fixed billionaire profit scheme, you lose motivation. You feel like you are being screwed. YOU want a piece of that pie, too! YOU are doing all of their work. You realize that the guys on top don't really have ANY special skills other than lobbying. You have more skills than they have. The CEO's and division vice presidents are merely high paid lobbyists. And that's it. They lobby and they have many people who work for them who lobby and the lobbying is what guarantees their extreme wealth year after year. They have no real worth in society. They make no sacrifices to make society better. Their only goal is to profit for themselves. Their whole day consists of meetings and very expensive lunches with division vice presidents and our government to ensure their price fixing scheme will always be in place.

[@333Shreyas]

I’m a forensic analyst! Everything I do matters mate.

[@fahds2583]

He's being sarcastic, in case nobody figured it out

[@mnikhk]

The thing I noticed about working bs jobs is you never know if you will get a better job since your skill set is abstract and may not apply later which is very anxiety inducing. Whereas even though blue collar jobs pay less and few high paying white collar jobs with actual value ,you can objectively measure how much you have improved and when its time for you to demand more money or switch companies based on objective knowledge. I am looking for a solution too havent found it yet, trying to find an actual objective skill set I can aquire over time hopefully.

[@TiMon-Experience]

It also depends on the fact that few people feel valued or respected when they can the meeting &/or convene a meeting and can sit together to ideate and talk for length about the things at hand. Also for few this presents a opportunity to talk to people. As you mentioned there are many jobs which are not required but at the end of the day it helps pay bills and satisfy financial dreams. And in spare time they might be involved in pursuing what they truly love. Double whammy

[@zak6721]

Thanks for the genuine and insightful advice captain. I'm about to start majoring in Strategic management and finance and my future goal was to climb that "corporate ladder". U have now made me question my entire existence lol but I've always felt like learning a trade as I felt it was an actual practical useful skill. I don't know what I'm going to do now but I hope I make the right decision

[@arammartirosyan9078]

What’s interesting is Marx referred to the experience of being detached from your labor and its fruits as “alienation”, and he discussed it in the context of industrialization. Technology and capital accumulation was making many blue-collar workers redundant, so they ended up doing progressively menial tasks instead. With the rise of service and digital economies, we’ve seen this problem for white-collar workers for decades. While capitalism may be the greatest engine of wealth accumulation and mass production, it also creates a spiritual desert that comes with people’s deepest needs, both materially and psychologically, being unfulfilled. This is all a sign that we need to move to a new system with an entirely new set of relations and societal goals. Anyway, thanks for the video! Loved the integration of Graeber and the honesty with which you went over your experiences.

[@shreyasbyndoor56]

Great video my man! Just wanted to add my thoughts- I believe you are more fulfilled when you innovate something on your own, take on more accountability and see that your results provide value to others. It was nice to see that you had similar opinions and this is what I try to tell people who are looking out for the “perfect meaningful job”. It is harder to find elsewhere and you can take steps to achieve it yourself. Let me know your thoughts Captain

[@VishalSingh-in1gh]

Well that was really something worth spending my 20 minutes to. Outstanding as usual

[@arturczerwinski2616]

Currently I work as a truck driver in international transport in Europe in a 3/1 system. This means, I'm basically living in the truck for three weeks, and then I have one week at home. I am paid around 22 000 dollars a year for doing this. But yes, it has some meaning, and is a life-changing experience. You get to appreciate your time at home more, and I definitely won't be doing that forever. But, knowing your job has some actual result and is needed, is good, too. But due to a huge amount of time away from home, and lack of a proper financial compensation, it's a lot like love-hate relationship. Makes you wonder also, why people in so-called blue collar jobs are kind of unable of stating reasonable demands.

[@bebop2523]

You are definitely right about this being a first world problem, but I would take it a step farther because even within the first world most people aren’t at the point on Maslow’s hierarchy where they need to feel self-actualized. I worked in the food service industry and in retail for years before I got my current desk job and I would never go back. No I don’t feel self-actualized by my job but I don’t make my job my whole identity, and this job actually enables me to explore other interests and invest my time elsewhere outside of work whereas before I was so tired just from working these long hours for low pay that I couldn’t find fulfillment elsewhere because I just didn’t have the energy. I do feel more fulfilled now than I was before but it’s because my white-collar job is just a means to an end rather than the end itself.

[@ameenabdullah3712]

Didn't get the last sentence.

[@AmazingStoryDewd]

It maybe a "first world problem" but from what I've experienced this first world problem is felt by many people around the world even by people who don't live in first world countries.

[@gunwant_tells3371]

Agree with every point you made. That is my life for the last 4 years of my 20s and soon I will have no 20s left. Money has been good, too comfortable, meaningless titles, and minimum work. So empty.

[@gunwant_tells3371]

P.S. I have a job title that says "Business Development Analyst". WtF does that even mean ?! It's a Sales job in the end.

[@David-kg5dk]

This is actually why I became a programmer. I think this is THE blue collar job of the 21st century. I learn every day, I build meaningful websites/apps, and at the end of the day I have sth. to point towards.

[@lemonstrangler]

wdym by meaningfull sites tho ?

[@arctech6169]

The hub?

[@lemonstrangler]

so what meaningful app did you make..

[@edmundob.guevarra9565]

Glad there's someone who also considers programming as a blue collar job.

[@Morrocanprincess]

These BS jobs are SOUL SUCKING!! We are working from home and still sooooo many useless skype/zoom meetings. I had a breakdown this week after an 8 hour meeting & training. It really solidified my plan to quit. I am focused on ramping up my business income and plan to quit in less than 5 months once I get my bonus. I feel nothing but RELIEF now!

[@GuRuGeorge03]

I am a coder and I switched from a b2b company to a company that develops Emergency Room software. Now that my software really does literally affect life and death, it has been amazing. Supporting nurses and doctors in their work for the betterment of patients is extremely fulfilling. I am not earning as much as I could at some larger company, but the value of feeling valuable, is simply better.

[@jeeed6390]

As someone working in public education on a team constantly solving more critical problems on shrinking budgets, this video is infuriating. Part of me is wondering why neighbors and friends don’t ever discuss how simple their meaningless high paying jobs are. But if you are someone with a BS jobs making over $85,000, you wouldn’t tell anyone how good you have it. My question is do people with high paying BS jobs laugh at those of us struggling in a difficult low-paying career? Am I a sucker?

[@nightskya]

I'm so happy that you are now doing KZbin full-time, your content is so amazing. I wish you nothing but complete success everytime I watch your videos.

[@stevec404]

"The psychological downside..." to all this bullshit 'work' is nothing less than the rending of our social fabric. We have come to understand the uselessness of most managerial high-salaried micromanaging powerful positions... staffed by those of little wisdom. Backslapping and rewarding such meaningless effort, while those who toil to create real value reap less than livable wages...this must end. It may end badly. Do not tell our productive workers - those who really carry the weight of this nation on their backs - that they need to rise up the ladder to greater success. No. That ladder leads to thin air, and will crumble without the real work of those standing firmly on their ground. This upside down dystopia can not be sustained. It will not be easily righted.

[@rojaws1183]

I was happier as a janitor than as the office worker I am now.

[@cupboardofcheese1529]

Are you still an office worker

[@rojaws1183]

@@cupboardofcheese1529 Yes and still moving up the ladder and asking myself if its worth it.

[@cupboardofcheese1529]

@@rojaws1183 yeah I had to nope out of office work even with prospects of moving up in that environment it just wasnt a motivator. Do you see a way out?

[@rojaws1183]

@@cupboardofcheese1529 I’m glad to hear you had the balls to break old habits and part of me wish I would do the same. Some day I will but right now I enjoy the profits too much. Very shallow of me I admit.

[@cupboardofcheese1529]

@@rojaws1183 nah I get that they often pay well especially with a bit of experience. Hoping I never have to go back to admin work again

[@omarsohal926]

Every job in certain context are useful, even the ones you mentioned. Labeling certain jobs as bullshit and making them disappear is not the solution to all the inefficiencies that we see in the work force. What does help a lot in eliminating these inefficiencies is decentralization, leadership and much more. If you worked for a big a company you know that they fight like hell to extract every piece of value that they can squeeze and keeping these “bullshit jobs” simply doesn’t do that which at least to me shows that they have certain value. To summarize the bullshit jobs are not the problem, centralization, poor management, work politics and much more cause the problems we face

[@stirfryjedi]

"Hang out - the perfect American expression. There's no phrase quite like it in Britain. We're too uptight to admit we're going to do nothing for a while: everybody has to be doing something." - Stuart Murdoch, The Celestial Café

[@productivitywithphilipp]

Great Video: In big companies, we are not more than small exchangeable cogs in the machine. Even if our work provides value, this value is abstract, because we never see the consequences of our work. When a musician plays her instrument, she will create emotions in her audience. When a street sweeper cleans the street, she will leave a clean street for the neighborhood. When a cook is mixing together ingredients, he is creating a meal some people will enjoy. But when an office worker is inputting data into an Excel row, there is nobody who will profit directly from this action. This is the problem of our modern division of labor: In big companies, our work is so abstract and so specialized, that there is no possible way for us to judge if our work is actually providing any value. However, I believe that most bullshit jobs do provide value. The problem is, that this value is caused very indirectly. Even persons who are profiting from your work, don't know that you are actually responsible for the produced value. This is because of complicated work processes that are diffusing the chain of action.

[@joeykenney]

The future of work will be increasingly decentralized and entrepreneurial as bs jobs are inevitable replaced by tech. Excited and optimistic about the possibilities!

[@ShaferHart]

This is true to an extent but have you worked a bs job? There's a lot of bs that's just not going to be replaced by machines. Mainly because they're so bs that it doesn't even make sense to make a machine do it.

[@purplebutterfly4078]

true! tech will replace a lot of jobs...I agree, teaching yourself entrepreneurial skills and building business around something you love can be more rewarding and also successful in the long run...

[@daysandwords]

There's an Australian comedy show called Utopia that is an excellent parody of this situation. There'll be someone whose entire job is to oversee the transition from one style of corporate ID cards to another, and the whole episode is spent getting used to these ID cards and then they go back to the old ones anyway.