Two jobs that exist in The Giver that we do not have—or need—in our society come to mind immediately. We do not have the job of a “giver” in our society and we do not have the job of “birthmother.” Birthmothers are the young women who are breeders, producing all of the babies for the society almost as if they work in a puppy mill where their only skill is their reproductive ability to birth litters of puppies. The job of birthmother clearly has a lowly status; these women do not get to marry and have a family as Jonas's parents do. Moreover, we also are told that after three years and three births, these women are laborers for the rest of their lives.

The reason that they need a giver and we do not in our society is because we do not need anyone to retain (and hide) memories. In our society, we retain our own memories: each person's memories are unique. In the society of The Giver, the way the world was before the society became planned has disappeared from people's memories. The different variations that one could experience and different sensations that one could recall have been banished, as the community elders have banished individuality and variances such as changes in weather and even colors.

The job they do not need at all, it would seem, is that of the people who release others, including releasing babies. This is a job that Jonas’s father does. In our world, we do not “release” people because they cannot seem to conform to strict societal rules.