Leyla Kazim, 40 years old, once dreaded Sunday evenings, anticipating a barrage of emails and prolonged meetings the following day. Before becoming a BBC presenter, she worked for a London business for 10 years, earning a good income and receiving a company car. However, Kazim grew increasingly skeptical about whether her work genuinely created value.

This feeling prompted Kazim to conduct an experiment: she stopped performing her professional duties but continued to arrive at the office on time.

During regular meetings, Kazim reported that her work was progressing and that stakeholders had reached agreements. Her superiors praised her efforts and encouraged her to continue. For 12 months, her performance reviews remained consistently positive.

Kazim used her office time to plan a round-the-world trip. After one year, she voluntarily resigned, realizing her position was entirely redundant. By then, no one knew she had abandoned most of her assigned tasks.

What exhausted Kazim was not the hours spent in front of a computer but the need to appear busy and enthusiastic about work she no longer believed in.

"It was a spiritual wound", Kazim stated.

Leyla Kazim. Photo: Yahoo Life

From this experience, she suggests that individuals with excessive free time at work should complete necessary tasks, dedicate time to personal interests, and prepare for a career change.

After resigning, Kazim spent 10 months traveling globally before transitioning into the culinary and media fields. She currently hosts "The Food Programme" on BBC Radio 4, serves as a food critic, and writes freelance for various publications in England.

Kazim's experience demonstrates that an employee can still be highly regarded despite minimal contribution. When tasks are unclear and results difficult to measure, consistently appearing before leaders, providing progress updates, attending meetings, and responding quickly to messages can create the impression of active work.

This phenomenon was analyzed by Anthropology Professor David Graeber, a lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science in England, in his 2018 book "Bullshit Jobs: A Theory". He used the term "bullshit jobs" to describe positions that even those holding them perceive as superfluous. These roles persist without clear outcomes because corporate structures need to maintain processes, regulations, and hierarchical systems.

A survey of 9,000 American workers conducted by market research firm YouGov found that 55% of respondents believed their work made a meaningful contribution to society, while 22% affirmed the opposite.

The perceived value of work varied significantly across different professions. The proportion of people who found their work meaningful reached 73% in healthcare and social services, and 72% in education. In contrast, the wholesale industry recorded the lowest satisfaction, with only 40% of staff believing their work offered value and as many as 44% disagreeing with this assessment.

Ngoc Ngan (According to Men Lifestyle Hub)