Column ” My life in a box “. The jobs “at the con” have they actually invaded the labour market, as argued by the american anthropologist David Graeber, whose book Bullshit Jobs (Links that release, 416 pages, € 25) has just been published in French and knows a high-profile media ? Most jobs, even the better paid, would they be totally useless, but nevertheless maintained because ” the ruling class has figured out that a population happy, productive, and enjoying free time is a mortal danger “, as stated by the author ?
It was in doubt. For economic reasons, first of all. Because if there are still a few people placardisées in large groups that are particularly profitable, the phenomenon becomes extremely rare, or even non-existent in small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for about 70 % of the employment in the French private sector. These companies must be vigilant to stay afloat and generate the financial margins necessary for their survival.
For scientific reasons, then. The book is almost totally devoid of statistical data, based primarily on hunches and stories of the neighbourhood. The author acknowledges himself : “It is difficult to find an objective measure of the phenomenon. “
Therefore, it is very beneficial that the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, been harnessed to the task, together with the IFOP to conduct the survey with a sample of 1 000 French so-called ” assets “, that is to say having a paid job. The results, signed by Jérôme Fourquet, political analyst and director of the FIFG, Alain Mergier, a sociologist, and Chloe Morin, director of international projects at Ipsos, were published on 3 October.
This is true both for manual workers than for occupations that are predominantly intellectual
They refute completely the ones mentioned in the book of David…
