Summary
Being paid to do nothing at work might sound like every employee's dream, but it can also bring shame and depression. We speak to a French man who successfully sued his employer because they gave him too little to do.
Plus, how many of us can say we are truly engaged with our work? We speak to anthropologist David Graeber, who found most of us think our jobs are meaningless or that they actually do harm.
But in India, people are crying out for work - Rahul Tandon reports on a job advertisement that attracted 23 million applicants.
(Picture: A woman wasting time at the office. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC with me, Manuel Zaragoza. |
| 0:09.5 | Coming up, nonsense work and pointless jobs. |
| 0:12.9 | Ask anybody who works for a large corporation, they'll be to say, oh my God, there's so many people here. |
| 0:17.6 | They're just doing nothing. |
| 0:18.9 | We speak to the man who says many of us believe our jobs are completely meaningless. |
| 0:23.8 | Still, that didn't stop a job advertisement in India attracting 23 million applicants. |
| 0:31.0 | We desperately want one of these jobs. |
| 0:34.7 | We have to get one. |
| 0:36.5 | It would change our lives. That's all here in Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:44.3 | Does your job matter? I ask because the most recent Gallup survey on the state of the American workplace found that only one third of U.S. employees are engaged in their work and workplace. |
| 0:56.0 | Most, the survey found, feel rather indifferent about their job. |
| 1:00.2 | Things aren't much better here in the UK, where a recent UGov poll found that 37% of the population |
| 1:05.8 | believe their job makes no meaningful contribution to the world. |
| 1:10.7 | In a moment, we hear from the anthropologist who delved deeper into those figures. |
| 1:15.1 | But first, employee disengagement is something Frederick Denard says he knows all about. |
| 1:20.9 | He used to work at a company called Interpafin, |
| 1:23.7 | which is a manufacturer and distributor of prestige perfumes. |
| 1:27.0 | He took the company to court, claiming compensation for what the French press called |
| 1:31.4 | bore out, stress induced by having little or nothing to do at work. |
| 1:37.1 | Late last month, the French Employment Tribunal ruled partially in Mr. Donas' favour. |
| 1:42.4 | So I asked him, what was his daily routine there like? |
| 1:50.3 | I would usually get to work at around 10.30 in the morning. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.