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The rise of the pointless job

theguardian.com

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231–240 of 499 posts

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#231

Post by chaostheory »

> “I work in a college dormitory during the summer. I have worked at this job for three years, and at this point it is still unclear to me what my actual duties are. Primarily, it seems that my job consists of physically occupying space at the front desk. While engaged in this, I am free to ‘pursue my own projects’, which I take to mean mainly creating rubber band balls out of rubber bands I find in the cabinets.

A doorman's job is not bullshit. The job acts as a deterrent for people who shouldn't be inside that dorm. There have been cases where students get raped by a stranger inside their own dorm room.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#232

Post by vonmoltke »

askafriend wrote: post #158
pbrb wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which city? I'm in the midwest and would need that comp to relocate to SF or NY ;( didn't think it would actually be viable. Actually, if you have some time for some questions, can you PM me?

You can get that comp as a senior engineer at any decent large company or any of the FANG companies.

What non-FAANG company pays that much for an IC or lead (excluding hedge funds)? If any are in NY I would love to know the names.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#233

Post by optimusmaximus »

Filligree wrote: post #98
geodel wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best minds of previous generations were fighting wars or leading battles. I personally do not think either of those activities is specifically better or worse.

I do. Wars. Wars are worse.

>muh war is bad, you guys. amirite?

>muh humanity

Judaeo-Christian bullshit. Words can't describe how hard I'm rolling my eyes right now.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#234

Post by grouseway »

lainga wrote: post #15

I have said this before, but I see some parallels between the modern world and Japan during the early Tokugawa era. Japan had pretty much reached a steady state by the time Tokugawa Iyeyasu came to power in 1600; most of the available land had been cultivated or settled, and, especially after the policies of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, society was locked in a rigid structure without much room for advancement or unrest. As a…

More recently isn't this how Saudi Arabia is currently run?

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#236

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

modbait wrote: post #95
expensivedrone wrote: post #80

I'm a programmer working at a big-tech company. I make ~$350k/year, even though my job could be done equally well by a college intern. I only do ~2 hours of productive work in an average day. My previous jobs were far more interesting and challenging, and I had apparently done extremely well in my interviews. Hence why I got an offer with an extremely good compensation package. However, the team that I go put into, i…

Through my long career, I've notice virtually no correlation between my pay and the utility of my position. And indeed, I've had one or two jobs like yours. Sadly for my bank book, I can only stand being useless for relatively short stretches. I still reminisce about my lowest paying job, my first. It was probably the most enjoyable and satisfying. It was also useful, though perhaps not at the top of that list. It's…

> I still reminisce about my lowest paying job, my first. It was probably the most enjoyable and satisfying.

Weird. I share this experience. My first tech job was really great, I was constantly doing interesting things, actively making things better for everybody all the time, really like all my colleagues, it was part time, and I made a pittance.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#237

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

ItsMe000001 wrote: post #185
merpnderp wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except I like what Bezos does for me. He gets my capital because I get something in return. I'd much rather my money go to one of Bezos services than it be taken from me by the government to pay someone to fill holes. And filling holes doesn't create jobs, it sucks capital from places that do. Bezos on the other hand created whole new industries.

> it sucks capital from places that do We have more than enough "capital". There is no shortage of (completely made up virtual) "money". There always is plenty of money for any worthwhile project - because it is created new for that new project. And if the economy is in trouble because "money!" the government steps in and through intermediaries creates a few trillion, see last crisis. So, please clarify for me, how d…

The concept of money is an incredibly corrosive social and mental poison. It forces debates about ethics and social costs/benefits into a value system that's completely artificial and has very obvious and dangerous limitations.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#238

Post by tom_mellior »

bomb199 wrote: post #222
foamflower wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my family lived in Japan years ago, we noticed that when taking the train, approximately three attendants checked our tickets before we boarded a train. At least two of those jobs are "bullshit" in terms of producing wealth, but they are socially beneficial in a culture where the social contract requires near-zero unemployment. (I, apparently like you, can't help but remember this kind of arrangement when listen…

A Job's Guarantee is a real movement, and a reasonable idea for this reason. Not having a job puts you in a lower social caste - might as well have them doing SOMETHING. Even if it's not especially productive, the small positive affect is better than nothing.

No. Eight hours of soul-crushing boredom every day keeps people in such jobs from doing... anything they want. Like learning stuff that might help them contribute to society in other ways (in a more useful job, maybe).

> Not having a job puts you in a lower social caste

This is a stupid societal expectation that should be fought rather than supported in the way you say.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#239

Post by edraferi »

modbait wrote: post #95
expensivedrone wrote: post #80

I'm a programmer working at a big-tech company. I make ~$350k/year, even though my job could be done equally well by a college intern. I only do ~2 hours of productive work in an average day. My previous jobs were far more interesting and challenging, and I had apparently done extremely well in my interviews. Hence why I got an offer with an extremely good compensation package. However, the team that I go put into, i…

Through my long career, I've notice virtually no correlation between my pay and the utility of my position. And indeed, I've had one or two jobs like yours. Sadly for my bank book, I can only stand being useless for relatively short stretches. I still reminisce about my lowest paying job, my first. It was probably the most enjoyable and satisfying. It was also useful, though perhaps not at the top of that list. It's…

There's an economic theory that job satisfaction is a kind of compensation. That is, you have to pay people more to do unsatisfying jobs.

Re: The rise of the pointless job

#240

Post by optimusmaximus »

kristianc wrote: post #3
fullshark wrote: post #2

Yet another guardian piece that seems like it was written by an edgy teenager.

In this case the edgy teenager in question wrote the generally well-received 'Debt: The First 5000 Years.'

>generally well-received

>muh popular opinion

The fact that the writer happened to write something that lots of people enjoyed neither contributes to nor detracts from the fact that this article is full of willfully contrarian edge, befitting a teenager.

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