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?

Tell me a divorce lawyer has never played off a divorcing couple against each other to create more (paid for ) contesting paperwork...? Never wind up an aggrieved spouse ? Play on the heart strings of a father that wants more access to his kids ? A mother that's been cheated on? Tell me that isn't so ?

Lawyers and accountants. Create nothing, drive no value, inexplicably exalted in this country.

Well. This is going to be controversial and perhaps ruffle some feathers. And I'd like to clarify that I don't look down on people for actually doing these jobs.

But, I kinda think we've created a society where are are a LOT of "bullshit" jobs out there. Essentially just busywork. Stuff to keep people earning a salary and contributing taxes, but outputs that don't actually make much of a positive contribution to society or the planet. So, doctors, teachers, most tradespeople, scientists, bin men, cleaners, supermarket staff - all examples of absolutely not bullshit jobs. But if someone suddenly eradicated all unnecessary middle management positions, would it make much difference to the planet? What about advertising or marketing for products or services that don't actually significantly improve people's lives (which is probably the majority of things actually)? Or those kinds of corporate roles where, when someone tells you their job title, it just sounds like a bunch of random corporatey buzz words strung together and gives you absolutely no indication what the role actually is?

The idea that being busy and working hard and having a strong work ethic seems like a good thing, but what if all those efforts do nothing to actually serve society or in fact just make things overall slightly worse, or line the pockets of a few more rich old white guys?

This is something I think about a lot. I remember finishing university and suddenly feeling terrified that it was quite likely I was going to end up doing some sort of "bullshit" job for the rest of my working life (so, the younger, fitter, best years), just in order to pay the bills. Do I have a better solution? Nope!

Special Advisors
Lobbyist
Life coaches
Influencers
Porn
Traffickers
Drug dealers

Those who blame everything on other people. You are responsible for yourself

I hadn't realised I was so judgemental!

Tbh nothing really other than the “job” of the people doing telephone/email scamming those people to me are the scum of the earth….I obviously don't agree with other illegal “jobs” but that one to me is the worst

As a former PowerPoint jockey, can’t disagree with this

I could not work in retail, I would be so tempted to give a right mouthful to some of the rude people I have seen in shops that I would probably only last a week.

Sorry for your bad experiences but you do not know all divorce lawyers. They are bound by a professional ethical code and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to whom you can complain.

Agree also. I think there are a lot of jobs that have essentially been created to keep middle of the road university graduates employed in white collar work.

Oh gosh, I love accountants. They are so useful, I can barely keep track of my petty cash.

Phone scammers. Drug dealers.

Whatever the people do next door on the floor below. Because you get to see all sorts. We saw the dark haired lady who wears the nice shoes get given a present last week and they have Krispy Kremes every Friday.

What's wrong with the people who are earning from Vinted etc? Do you mean using it as their only source of income, or their extra side hustle?

I get a bit more money just from selling my clothes on Vinted, but it's not something I want to do full time. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it per se though.

I cannot see how a private company would create a job just to keep somebody employed if there wasn't an actual use even if it was reputational, regulatory or paperwork created by the government. This company would go bust quite soon.

I cannot speak for the public / civil service.

@AlastheDaffodils yes, I probably expressed it clumsily, I need to be clearer about what I mean.

I understand commercial lending is part and parcel of life, and that venture capitalists and your day-to-day underwriters/ risk assessors/lenders are not performing the same functions. But it’s not so outrageous to say people lending on the basis of interest and hoped-for future revenue are unethical. There is a whole major world religion with this as a pretty core belief ;) plus, your jobbing finance professionals who make lending decisions aren’t operating in a vacuum. Generally they are working for organisations backed by international conglomerates whose stock in trade is profit maximisation.

The reason I mentioned PFI is because PFI investors were often positioned as the ethical face of capitalism, and yet I’m not so sure this has been realised. Yes, we got new public sector buildings and services but we paid for it through higher-cost PFI contracts, and sometimes the buildings have not been very good quality, meaning we are facing an unfortunate maintenance legacy down the line.

Wtf iv had dealings with some absolutely amazing police officers. We need social workers as their is a significant amount of child abuse that needs stopping

Bailiff for people with personal debts

Love this. So right ❤️

Landlord.
Debt collector.
Reform MP.
Slaughterhouse owner.
Jeff Bezos.
Elon Musk.
Banker who helps rich people dodge their taxes.
Cosmetic surgeon.
Arms Dealer.

Unfortunately it boils down to how 'skilled' the job is. The more niche the skill the more it'll be paid. It's a bit like supply and demand.

So : who can be a refuse collector? What skills and qualifications do they need ? (Likely no formal ones ) Probably physical ability to lift and carry etc and adequate communication skills. How many people will fit that skill set ? A lot. So supply is big.

A consultant urologist ? Skills : qualified doctor. Many post grad years of experience. Post graduation additional qualifications and training. Leadership experience. Probably research publications and evidence of a mastery of the research in that field. As well as all of the other interpersonal and professional non specific skills. How many people have those skills ? A small selection. People from far and wide that have these skills will apply. So your candidates are going to be the 'cream of the crop' applying. So competitive. Therefore the pay will reflect that.

I see it as kind of a supply and demand pyramid. The more potential candidates that can do that job , the less the pay.

I always think the people with much more average jobs have a better work/life balance and reap the rewards in other areas. It must be lovely to go home after a day's work and your job is parked up for the night with no extra thought for it. Lot to be said for that.

Also tradespeople often have lovely, genuine friendships at work/"banter". Whereas in more professional jobs , a lot of it is pretentious wankery (including my own field 😆)

I worked for a few large corps back in the day - bbc, Vodafone, o2 and found the middle managers in these sort of places did very little. I was in a team of freelancers and we did very little as well. Sometimes we did nothing for months and months & we were on a high day rate too - this is 15 years ago now. I don’t think this is discussed enough. Loads of jobs are complete BS and just a way of running budgets down and reducing a companies tax bill.

Yesss those sorts of jobs where they seem to just fart about on a laptop and I always wonder ‘but what is it you actually do’

This isn't my experience. I've never been divorced.

The kind of solicitors and accountants who specialise in helping the rich avoid tax

Any job that involves marketing for a tobacco company, especially in poorer countries (yes, I saw the Linked in profile for someone who had the job of finding new markets for cigarettes in Africa)

Certain MPs. Looking at the voting record for my previous (Tory) MP, I'd say he did a small amount of good and much harm.

Fortune tellers or any of that crap