> if my subordinate asks for a special chair, I will ask him to get a doctor's note, to see if he is serious or just bored
Sounds like a bullshit task then.
> 2/ "There is less and less actual work to be done due to technological progress." If this was true, there would be unemployment, not BS jobs.
What's the mechanism that would cause this to happen? A manager could notice that they don't need as many people on their team - but what incentive does that manager have to reduce the size of their own team?
> but what incentive does that manager have to reduce the size of their own team?
What incentive does a manager have to increase the size? What incentive does he have to improve performance in general? Managers don’t exist in a vacuum, and just because you as an employee don’t see them talking to other managers, executives or owners, it doesn’t mean they are just kings of their own domain.
> What incentive does a manager have to increase the size?
Personal satisfaction, looking more important, all the usual human motivations.
> What incentive does he have to improve performance in general?
The manager's own manager will likely notice increased output and reward it. Under normal circumstances an empire-building manager is kept in check by the need to justify their headcount in terms of their output (both of which are visible to their managers). It's only technological productivity increases (which are invisible to higher management, because they take effect in the technical details of the work) that gives managers cover to continue to employ people who have become redundant, or even add further redundant people (because the team is more productive): the overall team productivity (in terms of output/headcount) is going up, and so from the outside it looks like the team is simply performing well, when in fact the manager has siphoned off the fruits of technological advances.
Sounds like a bullshit task then.
> 2/ "There is less and less actual work to be done due to technological progress." If this was true, there would be unemployment, not BS jobs.
What's the mechanism that would cause this to happen? A manager could notice that they don't need as many people on their team - but what incentive does that manager have to reduce the size of their own team?