BS Jobs

This article about BS job is kind of funny and I suspect the guy leading the charge may not really understand what those so-called BS jobs entail or why they exist. What are BS jobs? Here’s some example he lists: clerical workers, consultants, telemarketers, corporate lawyers, service personnel, brand managers, middle management, etc.

Telemarketers, if those are the ones doing the robo-calling or constantly calling you to sell you something: that I understand. Most people don’t like telemarketing and would opt out of being bothered by these people.

But service personnel? I’m not sure what he means by that but I’m sure people will still want to talk to people. Some consultants may be full of bs but others provide good advice. Some corporate lawyers may not provide much value but others probably help companies adhere to the laws. Clerical workers may be doing drudgery work but the data that companies love have to get into the system somehow. And if we did away with middle management and just have the CEO managing all of the lowest level employers, well, that’s just not going to work out very well. Middle management exists to help CEO and his senior executives carve out time for strategic thinking rather than dealing with day to day crises.

And this guy is quite the utopian: we should let the technology do its thing and leave us with time to do the things we want to do. One of the thing he wants to do is revolutionize the culture so that we change our current value system. He brought up the universal basic income. One problem: people need money to subsist (unless things are free) and doing things we want to do without getting paid won’t work. Also, some people need to feel useful, not be a burden to society. He is probably articulating the frustrations people have with today’s system where all of the rewards go to the few with “BS” jobs (I’m sure he’s talking about the financiers who practically wrecked the financial system back in 2008 and still came out okay – talk about not adding value).

Anyway, this is an interesting read.