The UK Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has just completed a survey on the most boring professions. It’s no big surprise that administrative and secretarial jobs are right on top (see chart). What is raising eyebrows is the finding that the least boring job is teaching.

Of course, the number of jobs surveyed was limited. But teaching as an exciting profession? Remember D.H. Lawrence: “When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?” He was a teacher then, not a student. And it isn’t as though only teachers were surveyed. The sample was 2,000 graduates.

“These findings demonstrate that one of the chief benefits of teaching is the sheer variety of the job — that no two days are the same,” says the TDA. The UK isn’t getting enough teachers; nobody wants to become one. So a certain amount of hardsell may be forgiven. Anyway, it is not alone in its hype. The National Institute of Professional Secretaries (NIPS) found in a poll amongst its members that a personal secretary has the second-most interesting job. The most interesting was, of course, reserved for their bosses.

Such surveys no doubt give certain insights if looked at from the proper perspective. But they are more useful for another reason: they highlight the problem of boredom in the workplace. Boredom amongst shopfloor staff has long been recognised as a serious issue. If you are operating a lathe and dreaming of the evening’s plans, you could do yourself serious damage.

But boredom could be equally damaging for white-collar workers, though not at a physical level. One of the reasons why you see so much apathy in government offices and public sector organisations is boredom. How much excitement can you get out of stamping a passport after asking a man at the head of the queue the same standard questions? The obstructive nature of government employees is an unconscious attempt to bring some fun into their lives.

“Don’t think it is a problem of bureaucracy alone,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant Shashi Rao. “You will find it all over the place, even in private sector organisations. The secretary who is keeping you on hold or regaling you with all sorts of inanities is probably waiting for you to explode. That’ll make her day.”

The TDA survey mentioned earlier says that half the sample was bored with the monotony of their jobs. A Gallup poll in the US says that 55 per cent of employees are “not engaged” at work. Another survey by Sirota Consulting LLC says that people are happier when they have “too much work” compared to those who have “too little work”.

Researchers at the University College, London, say that a boring job can kill you. “Those trapped in dead-end jobs develop hearts that are unaccustomed to fluctuations experienced by employees who regularly deal with difficult or demanding situations … (they) are at more risk of developing an irregular heartbeat, which in some circumstances may trigger heart attack or even sudden death.” Says T.J. Snaith in the I-resign.com Guide to Boredom: “Boredom is the result of having nothing to do that one likes. It’s the featureless highway to despair. It’s doom diluted and measured into daily doses.”

So is there a solution? Some suggestions for companies are: try to move people around in their jobs; create measurable challenges with rewards; give people an opportunity to interact informally (if you have a family atmosphere at the workplace, you are sure to have a lot of fights but very little boredom); and, finally, introduce a fun element into work.

As an individual, you have less of an opportunity to change the world. But you always have the option of walking out of a boring job. Exercise it.

THE BORED BRIGADE

The most boring professions measured by the Workforce Boredom Index

Profession Score*

Administrative/secretarial        10

Manufacturing        8.1

Sales        7.8

Marketing/advertising        7.7

IT/telecommunications        7.5

Science research        7.3

Media        7.1

Law        6.9

Engineering        6.9

Banking/finance        6.6

HR        6.6

Accountancy        6.3

Hospitality/travel        5.3

Healthcare        5.1

Teaching        4.0

* Most boring —        10

Source: Training and Development Agency for Schools