To ask what jobs people secretly (or not so secretly) look down on and why?

[ForBreezySloth]

We’re always told “all work is valuable” and I do agree in principle, but if we’re honest, most of us have a job or two we side-eye, even if we don’t say it out loud. Is it how people behave in the role? The pay vs attitude? The ethics of the job itself?

AIBU to think it’s okay to admit we have judgements - as long as we’re willing to examine them?

@SquishedMallow i dont look down on them for doing well and making money. I look down on the majority of tradespeople because they put profit above competence and ethics. I’ve employed hundreds over the years and the good ones are rare as rocking horse shit.

I’ve done childcare and secretarial. Both eternally criticised

On line "journalists" .

Cleaner. I was a cleaner for 15 years in a Fire Station. It was the best job I ever had ! They made breakfast for us every day. Tea and toast, but still.
There were always casual remarks from the workplace and visitors. ' oh, it's only the cleaner.' 'even the cleaner knows that''. 'could you do my washing ?'. 'If you go and buy bacon and sausages you can have some'
The higher ups didn't even deign to speak to us.

Still the Best job EVER 😀

Anyone who lays on the 'hard sell', including dodgy salespeople, and those involved in MLMs

I’m not sure about look down, but frustrating careers for me are those who have no real idea of the grass roots of the area they work in.

so many examples,
someone straight into management of something they have never worked in. Like a bar manager who has never poured a pint.

a site manager who has never built a house.

legislators. They make these decisions and policies, without any comprehension of how it works in reality. You should be banned from such things.

it’s better to look at Scottish law for that, amendment after amendment because nobody could understand the grass root impact the first time.

reactive type legislation is a good example.

well we better quickly pass this because someone did x. Rather than actually working in the area and realising human error and work error are two diff things.

I think it’s bizarre to look down on any job.. I can’t really understand why anyone would chose to be a bailiff I guess.

I've lost count of how many comments I've had over the past 12 years about me working in food retail.

Generally along the lines of assuming I'm thick/uneducated.

What they don't know is that actually I do have GCSEs,.A Levels, and shock horror a bachelor's degree.

I ended up in this job due to the fact I've spent since the age of 11 trying to cope with being severely mentally ill (and up until 3 years also undiagnosed ADHD). After I graduated I got myself a full time job in order to save money up to move away and pursue the dream of working in media. Unfortunately for me working full time led to me having a mental breakdown and very nearly successfully trying to kill myself (which subsequently left me with PTSD from the trauma of dying/being resuscitated).

That ultimately led to me losing my job and being unable to work. I ended up on ESA in the support group for the next 3 1/2 years.

But I wasn't happy with life and desperately wanted to get back to work (cos in my head feeling normal=working and having a job). I applied for so many jobs but the only one who gave me a chance were my current employers, and I've been in this job for 12 years now (still get a small amount of pip which provides help and therapy but don't claim anything else)

So it really wasn't by choice but I'm proud of myself for getting back to work and for sticking it out. It's certainly not the dream and tbh the way things are I'm looking at upskilling to try and get back into a career relevant to my degree (and with media now being one of the big 5 industries the government are backing and pushing I might have a chance)

Because bankers make (lots of) money for their banks

But again, no idea from the grass roots of it. The complainers.

when I started at work, as a trainee solicitor, I insisted in doing a month with each “area”. Not full time, because I was also doing the minimum trainee stuff, but I wanted to learn how reception worked, how the cleaners worked, how the secretary pool worked. I did a touch type course. I wanted to understand the business and the process from the beginning. So when my secretary had to rush off to care for her son, no problem, I could type the report up.

when the senior partners secretary broke her leg, the world ended. He couldn’t even turn on a computer.

same for childcare, I do that now. The biggest complainers, those who are not and have never actually done it.

People doing office 'admin' jobs who lack curiosity and awareness but get by doing repetitive tasks (often badly due to lack of critical thinking ability) that will replaced by AI eventually.

A lot of advertising and sales. Not all of it, probably not the majority, but a lot of it is scummy. Influencers. Those involved in pushing plastic surgery, botox, lip fillers, etc. Those involved in the porn industry, strip clubs, OnlyFans typestuff. Commercial surrogacy. Many politicians.

I think I have disdain for people who leach off creative industries, nothing specific but
middlemen types with all mouth, plenty of unwanted opinion and no talent

I think people tend to confuse someone not liking or wanting to do a job with looking down on people doing the job. I remember a thread around Covid time with someone who’d had a well-paid office job having to take a supermarket job that got very heated.

There are loads of jobs I wouldn’t want to do, but I don’t think less of the people doing them.

'Journalists' working for the s*n, gb news and the mail (none of these outlets deserve capital letters).

I wouldn't look down on anyone else for earning their own money though. Not even Only Fans. If people are stupid enough to pay for that sort of thing then I don't blame others for cashing in (as long as they know what they are doing and are taking good care of their mental health).

The argument that bankers are performing a civic good because they lend money for social housing does make me chuckle. I find it hard to see venture capitalists as morally upstanding, although maybe there are exceptions. Generally, contracts are drawn up to protect returns, and if profits are looking at alldubious it’s cut and run. There is a crisis looming as public sector PFI contracts come to an end.

^^ Very much.

There are lots of jobs i don't really want to do. But with most of them I am more likely to admire people who do them than look down on them (teachers for example).

My friend’s DD gave up a regular job and became an influencer and has done amazingly well. She recently bought a 300k flat with cash and she’s only 24. I can’t see her going back to a regular job now.

I find it really sad and frankly immature and pathetic that people will dismiss as "immoral" all politicians whose party politics don't align with their own. Should we all have to vote the same way? Is this Russia?

Chuggers

Any WFH jobs

Bankers are a bit interesting - I see them as contributing somewhat by helping organisations earn money that other finance products invest in and thereby give some benefit to every day people.

The thing that really irks me is the pay packets for "entertainment" ie actors, musicians, sports people, compared to roles that benefit society ie health care, education, scientists. It says that, as a society, being entertained is more valuable than wellbeing and learning. That's pretty shameful in my opinion. Imagine the good that could be done investing the entertainment billions into health related research and affordable and timely healthcare for everyone.

I think there's rather a lot of judgement about people whose jobs seems fun or intrinsically very satisfying and who rely on state subsidies or funding to do them - part of the reason why funding for artists can be so controversial. Like the feeling they aren't doing their fair share of drudgery.

I think YouTubers can actually add a lot of knowledge and joy to the world by creating amazing videos.