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Office for Scientific Standards

Bullshit Jobs: Definition and Assessment

Learn how the IBBD defines and assesses bullshit jobs, then explore its research standards and five-part classification system.

Two IBBD employees assess a stack of case files on a historic balance scale

IBDS-114 - Evaluation Doctrine

Fundamental Definition under IBDS-114

A Bullshit Job, as defined by anthropologist David Graeber, is a paid job that is so completely pointless, unnecessary or harmful that even the person performing it cannot convincingly justify why it exists—while feeling obliged to pretend that it does.

Evaluation Criteria

Our investigations look for activities that...

  • provide little or no meaningful benefit to society.
  • exist primarily to sustain bureaucracy, hierarchy or organisational inefficiency.
  • could disappear without anyone noticing.
  • consume time, money and human potential without creating proportional value.

Primary Evaluation Question

What would happen if this activity disappeared tomorrow?

If the honest answer is ‘probably nothing,’ further examination for bullshit is warranted.

Important Clarification

The Bureau investigates activities—not professions.

Two people with the same job title may receive completely different Bullshit Scores because their day-to-day work can differ dramatically.