One in 10 workers believes their job is ‘socially useless’

If you are sitting at your desk contemplating the worth of your job, you are not alone.

A study involving 100,000 workers in 47 countries found 8 per cent considered their job to be ‘‘socially useless’’ – that is, not providing any benefit to society. Another 17 per cent doubted the social usefulness of their work.

The findings, published this month, showed that almost one in 10 workers responded negatively to the statement ‘‘my job is useful to society’’.

The number of New Zealand workers who believed their job was socially useless sat just below the one in 10 average.

Authors Robert Dur and Max van Lent said workers who believed their jobs were socially useless were often employed in sales, marketing, public relations or finance. Those working in education, health and the police force rarely saw their jobs as socially useless, the researchers found.

New Zealand was one of the 47 countries surveyed.

Aucklander Anna RawhitiConnell worked in corporate communications for over a decade before setting up her own business as a contractor.

She said that while working in corporate communications, there were days when she wished she could be a plumber.

‘‘I absolutely understand why comms people would feel like this. A lot of what you are doing feels like weasel work. It’s ephemeral and you don’t feel connected to the real world.’’

Public perception could also carry weight in how PR professionals saw the value of their work, she said.

‘‘Those jobs have a negative connotation. People aren’t particularly kind – it’s seen as a bit of a dark art. People often openly talk about selling their own soul.’’

The way to get around the sense that your job didn’t matter was to have a life outside of work.

‘‘You shouldn’t define yourself by your job,’’ she said.

In New Zealand, the fraction of workers who felt their job didn’t matter was slightly less than one in 10, better than Australia but worse than China and the United States.