ncreasing numbers of workers in rich countries — as many as 35 or 40 percent in some surveys — are secretly convinced their jobs are pointless. Either they are covertly watching YouTube videos all day or they see their work as having no social value: That is, if their job were to disappear tomorrow, it would make no real difference. As a result, most are deeply miserable. I call these “bulls–t jobs.” Over the last year or so, I’ve been asking people to send me accounts of their most useless occupations. Here are some of the jobs that came up most frequently: 1. Compliance workers. Banking is riddled with bulls–t top to bottom. One banking efficiency expert told me he estimated about 80 percent of banking jobs could easily be eliminated, but everyone agreed the most idiotic sector was definitely “compliance.” (No. 2 was HR, and No. 3 middle management.) The banking sector keeps thousands of employees whose only job is to pretend each transaction is in accord with government r