The term “bullshit jobs” came to popular attention in 2018 when the late David Graeber published Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, in which he argued that over half of the jobs today are meaningless, which in turn has a significant impact on our mental wellbeing as so much of our self-worth is tied up with doing meaningful work.

It’s a worldview that new research from the University of Cambridge suggests doesn’t really stack up, despite the clear emotional appeal of the concept.  After all, most of us have probably worked in jobs that we hated and that weren’t fulfilling, so it’s easy to believe such jobs are commonplace.

“But Graeber’s theory is not based on any reliable empirical data, even though he puts forward several propositions, all of which are testable,” the researchers explain.

Put to the test

The researchers used the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) results from between 2005 and 2015 to try and understand why some respondents answered either “rarely” or “never” when asked whether they do useful work.

The surveys, which were conducted every five years, featured tens of thousands of workers from across Europe and aimed to understand now only things like worker wellbeing but also their usefulness on the job and the quality of their work.

Graeber suggested that around half of jobs could realistically be classified as “bullshit jobs”, yet this was certainly not reflected in the EWCS data.  Indeed, the actual number was not even close to Graeber’s apocalyptic suggestion, with just 4.8% of European workers reporting that their work was not useful.

A growing trend?

Graeber also argued that the prevalence of bullshit jobs was growing considerably in recent years, yet, once again, the EWCS showed no real evidence of this.  Indeed, the number of unfulfilled workers actually fell from 7.8% in 2005 to a measly 4.8% in 2015.

Graeber also argued that bullshit jobs are especially concentrated in a number of professions, such as marketing, finance, and law.  Now, it’s obviously interesting that these are not generally the professions we may think of when we think of jobs with few prospects and little to really get our blood pumping.  Nonetheless, Graeber argues that even in stressful jobs there can be a clear indication that what you’re doing, while hard, is nonetheless contributing to society.

Alas, when the researchers ranked the EWCS data according to the professions scoring highest for a lack of fulfillment, there was no real link at all between the profession people had and their perceptions of the usefulness of their work.  What’s more, those working in both the law and administration, both of which Graeber asserted were full of bullshit jobs, actually scored very low, whereas those jobs, such as refuse collectors and cleaners, which Graeber believed were undoubtedly hard but fulfilling, scored relatively highly.

Spiritual violence

Where the researchers do find agreement with Graeber is in the harm that bullshit jobs can do to our emotional wellbeing.  Graeber famously referred to such jobs as a form of “spiritual violence”, which often leads to a range of problems, including depression and anxiety.

There was fairly robust evidence linking the perception of one’s job as useless and decline in one’s psychological wellbeing, although the researchers are at pains to point out they were not able to determine a causal link between the two.

“When we looked at readily-available data from a large cohort of people across Europe, it quickly became apparent to us that very few of the key propositions in Graeber’s theory can be sustained – and this is the case in every country we looked at, to varying degrees,” the researchers say. “But one of his most important propositions – that BS jobs are a form of ‘spiritual violence’ – does seem to be supported by the data.”

After exploring why this might be the case, the study found that feeling respected and encouraged by one’s managers was key, as those who lacked this support were much more likely to feel disheartened at work and view their job as useless.

What’s more, those who viewed their job as useful were also often encouraged to use their initiative and give their ideas on how things could be improved, which the researchers believe is crucial to supporting our sense that we’re making the most of our skills.  It also appears to be important that we’re given sufficient time to do our work well, which highlights the clear link between our desire to do a good job and our sense of the usefulness of our work.

“Although the data doesn’t always support David Graeber’s claims, his insightful and imaginative work played an important role in raising awareness of the harms of useless jobs,” the researchers conclude. “He may have been way off the mark with regards how common BS jobs are, but he was right to link people’s attitudes towards their jobs to their psychological wellbeing, and this is something that employers – and society as a whole – should take seriously.