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0 pointsmatthest9mo ago0 comments

Does anyone else think the fact that companies hire superfluous employees (i.e. bullshit jobs) is actually fantastic?

Because they don't have to do that. They could just operate at max efficiency all the time.

Instead, they spread the wealth a bit by having bullshit jobs, even if the existence of these jobs is dependent on the market cycle.

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nyarlathotep_9mo ago

> Does anyone else think the fact that companies hire superfluous employees (i.e. bullshit jobs) is actually fantastic?

I do.

It's much more important that people live a dignified life and be able to feed their families than "increasing shareholder value" or whatever.

I'm a person that would be hypothetically supportive of something like DOGE cuts, but I'd rather have people earning a living even with Soviet-style make work jobs than unemployed. I don't desire to live in a cutthroat "competitive" society where only "talent" can live a dignified life. I don't know if that's "wealth distribution" or socialism or whatever; I don't really care, nor make claim it's some airtight political philosophy.

andrekandre9mo ago

  > It's much more important that people live a dignified life and be able to feed their families than "increasing shareholder value" or whatever.

its just my intuition, but talking to many people around me, i get the feeling like this is why people on both "left" and "right" are in a lot of ways (for lack of a better word) irate at the system as a whole... if thats true, i doubt ai will improve the situation for either...

leflambeur9mo ago

tech bros think not only that that system is good, but that they'd be the winners

tilne9mo ago

I think the more optimistic interpretation would be that companies eliminating bullshit jobs would provide signal on which jobs aren’t bullshit, and then individuals and the job prep/education systems could align to this.

That’s very optimistic! I don’t fully agree with it, but I certainly know some very intelligent people that I wish were contributing more to the world than they do as a pawn in a game of corporate chess.

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