To think most office jobs exist to waste time and make people feel important?

[SharpGreyOwl]

So much of office life seems like shuffling paper, booking pointless meetings and creating reports no one reads. AIBU to think half of these roles don’t need to exist?

Different in different places I imagine.
That's my answer to today's edgy question.

The last thing we need is fewer jobs, pointless or not!

I used to think the same, until I got a role in senior management and realised the complexities and legal and regulatory requirements involved in running a business of any decent size.

What on earth do you do for a living OP?!

So many AIBUs these days with sweeping generalisations and no context. AIBU to be getting a bit fed up with them?

They can all be answered with 'in some circumstances no doubt you are right, but as a generalisation it is too sweeping a statement.'

If youre not happy in your role, do something about it. If your jealous of someone elses role - do something to make your life and own role better.

Envy isnt a good stance, jealousy doesn't serve you. Bitterness isnt a good characteristic

Oh, a goady ‘To think that…’ question from an automatically generated user name. We’ve not had one of those for a good five minutes.

I'm sure like most people I will end up saying "yeah but My job isn't just wasting time" .

Until Brexit happened I wasn't a fan of the paperwork & policy age but I' ve come round to thinking there's good reason for process.

Secretly I suspect OP is right wrt most civil servants, sadly !!

I would personally like a lot less Health & Safety regulation WRT things like "safe lifting at work" and whether volunteers can sit down have a cup of tea with the person they help out in that person's home or 55 forms to fill in as risk assessment on every school trip etc.

I often wonder what exactly our many layers of senior managers do exactly.

Not necessarily, but I do think a lot of jobs could be done in less than 40 hours a week. There is inevitably a lot of “works expands to fill the allocated time” in some jobs. But really depends so much on the workplace and industry.

Something with plenty of pointless meetings, hence the thought.

Have you read Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber? Lots of data to back up your claim.

Lots of undigested naieve assumptions being presented here lately as though they are reasoned ideas.

Yes! That’s exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of, he really nailed how so many roles are more about appearances than real value.

Anyone bored with shuffling paper and generally doing nothing can come and join me in the office I work in.
40 hours a week isn't enough (although I refuse to do more hours) and I often leave on Friday with unread emails and arrive on Monday to a full inbox. On top of that there are phones to answer and jobs that come personally from colleagues coming into the office. The pay is piss poor for the complexity and amount of work I am expected to get through.
Please post links to the paper shuffling jobs - I am at breaking point.

Not the case in my experience, no.

Why would an employer pay people just to shuffle paper about pointlessly though. It's their loss ultimately if there is no actual work to do.

I’m not office based any more but when I was I think that was the general assumption of lots of people. However the company I used to work for closed the office permanently at the start of lockdown, some staff were made redundant and others went on to work from home.

The amount of calls and emails the remaining staff got asking how do tasks which were done quietly in the background before was amazing. We would just get on with things in the office, sorting out problems, getting urgent items couriered out, dealing with complaints, spending hours preparing training materials and new unit manuals as well as all the ordering that went with opening a new site, getting ready for conferences etc. Never really involving the operations teams or other senior management unless necessary.

When we could no longer do their everyday mundane tasks and they had to start outsourcing them themselves there was uproar.

Yes we used to arrange lots of meetings and travel but that was a very small part of our roles.

What industry do you work in @SharpGreyOwl?

Oh hello, random three words name poster with a really abstract 'discuss' thread. Why don't you share some of your own experiences that make you think this?

Just came to recommend that book too 👌 Really opened my eyes and still applies today even though it's a bit older. I very much have a bullshit office job. Doesn't make it any less stressful though unfortunately!

I have a job that strictly speaking doesn’t “need” to exist - society would keep going without it. But it serves a function that ultimately improves things. I spend a lot of time in meetings that feel pointless (to me) and also probably inviting others to meetings that feel pointless (to them). It’s public sector and there is a lot of red tape and things to consider around coproduction, efficient use of public funds, transparency etc etc so things DO take forever and sometimes it can feel frustrating and a bit pointless - especially when another team wants to have an opinion on what you are doing. But it’s necessary in order to ensure things run in a way that ensures things are done according to due process and the public duty is met appropriately.

Also, people need to work and feel like they are contributing regardless of what that is. So YABU.

This.

A lot exist to make the roles of the most senior personnel easier. A lot of businesses would collapse without the office workers. They’re the ones who keep the cogs turning.

I wouldn’t worry about it. AI is rapidly moving into entry level admin jobs and through iterative advancement will soon be able to cope with defined disciplines within project management, finance etc.