The desirability of "creating new jobs" is usually taken as self-evident. Nevertheless, if jobs as such—as opposed to the remuneration that it is hoped that jobs will bring—were a highly valued end on the value scales of most workers, the business world would be far different. Not only would businesses be staffed by unpaid volunteers, but many of them would even offer payment to their employers for this privilege.

In the real world (as opposed to the fantasy world of many politicians and journalists), human beings seek jobs, not for their own sake, but for primarily the rewards they offer: financial compensation, a psychological sense of productivity and accomplishment, opportunities to acquire new skills, and so forth.