3 ms·

I've heard this before about busy work (aka "bullshit jobs") but I'm not sure why we have them. Isn't it in the company's best interest to not have them?

• aianus 10y ago
  Do managers generally have any incentive to recommend laying off subordinates when they're no longer required? They certainly have incentive to keep them around doing bullshit work -- the higher your headcount the more prestige you have as a manager.
• maxsilver 10y ago
  > Isn't it in the company's best interest to not have them? Usually, yes. But the company might not necessarily only make decisions in their own best interest. Sometimes, executives/owners just like to see lots of people head-down "hard at work". Sometimes, execs/owners adamantly believe work has to be done, that doesn't actually need to be done. Sometimes, the customer demands busy work be done and pays the company for it. (every Enterprise or Government contract I've ever seen has some amount of this) Sometimes, people just can't agree on what work is busy work in the first place. I'm sure there are more reasons. Those four come to mind because I have personally experienced all of them at some point in the last decade.