[commieneko]

_Bullshit Jobs_, by David Graeber. The article it's based on is all over the web if you want to get a quick overview. The book expands on the ideas. It seems like a joke, and in many ways it is. But it's also a surprisingly thoughtful look at something that's real.

I do have to say, though, that I never thought of treating it as a handbook and not as a expose. (See the meme "_1984_ wasn't intended to be a handbook.")

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs

[goldname]

It teaches people how to find bullshit jobs or just talks about them? I heard of it and only know that it's an attack on automation/keynesian economics.

[commieneko]

It’s definitely not an attack on automation.

The value in this case would be to identify types of jobs and the various red flags around them. Some BS jobs actually have a lot of, pointless, work attached to them. You would want to avoid these.

Within the nomenclature of the book, some Flunkie jobs would be what you are looking for. Others not so much.

While the book is very poetic, and very funny, the most useful part for you, I surmise, would be the descriptions supplied to the author as part of his research. Lots of stories where the job in question had no real activities associated with them other than keeping a low profile. One in particular, a municipal water worker, who was systematically being deprived of duties by rival factions managed to stop showing up for work for several years, yet stayed on the payroll for several years unnoticed.

There apparently some unwanted notoriety and legal action towards the end of his tenure. Avoiding this may be considered an exercise for the student/reader...