Pointless office jobs

Retired NHS manager here. A role I was promoted into by default. My previous clinical job had been useful. But my latter role was negotiating contracts with service commissioners. What services did they want to buy/ commission. We spent all year meeting around this subject. What should they buy or defund? All bloody year. And they always bought exactly the same as the year before. Some times a tiny bit of tinkering around and sometimes exactly the same as before. Honestly if none of us existed and a computer automatically recommissioned each year there would have been no difference. There was about 15 of us in this farce full time and no one was paid less than 60k

@HappiestSleeping
Love this;
"Oh, and don't bet on AI changing much. My guess is that all the juniors will be using it to turn bullet points into ten page reports to go up the tree, and all the grown ups will be using it to condense 10 page reports into bullet points."

My Mum was born just before WW2 in a Northern mill town- she always said whoever invented work should be taken out and shot.
It's an extreme view , but it has merit.

You role sounds very similar to mine! Although you’ve a crafty 10k a year more than me! I sit on my arse, earning 70k a year and probably do about an hour or twos work over 40 hours each week, if I went missing tomorrow nothing would change. Didn’t always used to be like that, but the higher up the chain you get at the company I work for, the less you have to do! Now, I’m very much different from you, I have no ambition, I don’t want to be rushed off my feet like I was ever again, I’m not bored because we have a very social atmosphere so there is always chatter going on. But yes, I can imagine if you’re not of the same mind as me then it would be would be a little soul destroying. But remember, not as soul destroying as a care worker earning minimum wage, or a nurse, or any of the multitude of jobs where they’re not as lucky as us money wise and work a lot fucking harder. I just count myself extremely fortunate.

I get it OP. I earn similar in an office role that I am good at but does not interest me in the slightest. I can do my work in about 25% of the time I am paid for yet I have to be online and available in office hours so can’t just swan off.

It was very flexible and stress free when the children were young so I sucked it up then. And now at 50 I’m too old to change career esp as I’d only earn a fraction of my current salary doing what I’d want to.

It is a first world problem and I realise how privileged I am so I suck it up and use my brain to do other things…learn languages, cook, art projects. It’s up to you if that’s enough for you!

Just not true and a kazy narrative. There is definitely waste and inefficiency but the vast majority of what you come to expect in society is enabled through the Public Sector. You go to a concert and expect it to have fire and crowd safety, you expect food you buy to be safe, you expect to be able to call someone if a child is in danger, you expect someone to stop your neighbours building in your garden. We all know about services like the NHS but there numerous public sector jobs that mean society can function. Some at personal danger to themselves and plenty that receive abuse and violence on almost daily basis.

Wow! Can you DM me your job! Would love the salary and to be able to do such a pointless job!

He was off sick on 4 of them

It’s really interesting to read this, as my friends were talking about this a few weeks ago. WFH is compounding the issue for them. But they have time to do all of nice hobbies you describe. And plenty of time & money for DC to do the same. Nice houses, nice cars, nice holidays. Pensions. We’re in creative jobs & have none of those things. I’m 50 too, and wonder if I’d taken a different direction in life…

David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs is your kind of book

Totally get you OP

Wow 99% of office roles are pointless…I think you need to get out more OP ..that’s hyperbole and completely untrue.

Really offensive to people who do office work and do it well and add to our society in so many positive ways

Is this a bid for an AI take over?

And alot of the very unproductive middle management positions that are micro managing those providing services in large organisations like the NHS are reactions to catastrophic failures. So when they have system failings in care the reactions are to introduce more monitoring and less autonomy to those providing the services, instead of identifying the culture and environment that caused the issues. This creates meaningless tiers in organisations but meets the risk adverse culture in change management. We end up with who swathes of people of carring out functions that just aren't needed.

Well by definition if someone/an employer is paying you for it it probably isn't pointless, I think many jobs fall into this category - most middle management jobs. But they pay you so its a job and at least in monetary terms has value.

you need to reframe it.
your job isn't meaningful because it's changing the world, it's meaningful because it's enabling your husband to be a full time carer.
how are your savings? can you save more instead of wasting money so you can look at earlier retirement? will you always need to care for your son or is there a point of future independence when you can both be in paid work?
is there any initiatives you can do at work to support a charity or do something meaningful within the industry?
can you mentor younger or newer staff to help develop their skills and confidence?

I earn nowhere near £80k for my office job id suck it up to be honest! I’d love a job that paid that much!

Totally with you OP. I couldn't even pretend to care about my "important" office job and just left. It was literally soul-destroying. My absence will make zero difference to anything.

I know what you mean OP I used to work for the Local Authority, literally full of pointless jobs, mine being one of them, when someone ever asked me what I did for a living I told them I shuffled paper all day, they thought I was joking, I wasn’t 😂

Ok so what exactly is your role?

Sounds like a company to short of no redundancies are made.

Christ.
You earn 70K for doing 2hrs work a week and think you're fortunate and lucky.
Morally it stinks.

I think the key is that is you funny going meaning and fulfillment in your work then to find it in other areas of your life, family, hobbies, volunteering, religion, whatever it is.

AI will replace you soon enough.

Ditto.

That seems a good idea, and my friends love hearing all of the interesting things about my job. It is good fun! But it just doesn’t pay… Could you say goodbye to your current lifestyle? Financial strain isn’t as much fun…