I earn £50k and barely do any work - AIBU?

[lexjoey]

I competed my MSc in 2020, managed to get onto a very good grad scheme and landed a role where my current line manager and his "right hand" woman barely have time to share work with me. TBF I would not have accepted this scenario if it had not been for Covid, I was just grateful to have a job but honestly I do about 15 hours worth of work per week and just waste time for the rest. I will say I complete one ouptut which the team hates.

It makes me feel like a great big lump of useless space and I plan to move jobs in the near-ish future. I've witnessed my sister go from being a wet blanket to the ultimate professional which has only highlighted the fact I have reached a dead end with this corp/team.

I'm really not gloating, just curious if anyone has found themselves in this position. On the one hand, I am lucky but it's only a ST solution and I really DO want to develop and I'm just stagnating.

The 2 people above me are very possessive with their work and don't have the time to upskill me.

AIBU?

I'm asking not because I'm lazy but because I have a hell of a lot of time consuming things I need and love to do that make no or very little money at all, and would love to quietly get on with them while raking in 125k pa,

Lol..upskilling! Unskilling is what your current role is doing to you!

for the poster who asked

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I have been in this situation and it is soul-sucking, I empathise. I have to say though that IMO a lot of office-based jobs are like this; there are many organisations, both private and public, that shouldn't exist at all, their only purpose is to move money and paperwork from here to there with no benefit or output, and to create the appearance of busyness for their employees. It is a waste of life but for many of the people involved it's a feature, not a bug; they get the middle-class status and the money and they don't have to break a sweat. There are probably entire sectors in society operating like this. I'd have some very depressing specific stories to tell, but they'd be too outing.

I think a lot of this is due to combining widespread workplace corruption with the puritanical idea that everyone needs to appear hard-working in order to be a worthy person, so nobody ever feels brave enough to tell the truth and expose the scam. An Emperor's new clothes situation. David Graeber's book "Bullshit jobs" is an interesting (and funny) expose on this type of jobs, whatever you may think of his politics I can definitely vouch for much of the stuff he's describing being exactly like that.

My situ is a bit like this. I was on holiday last month for a week then got covid at the end of June. I have no idea how I found anything to fill my timesheets for the days I was there.

My problem is slightly different in that I have work to do but spend a lot of my time doing strategy for one client (I work in PR) so basically my entire life is powerpoint and I'm seen as the go-to person for that without learning anything new. I have two decks to finish by Wednesday as well as a couple of excel research sheets. Would prefer to spend some time actually liaising with the media, but here we are...

Also had a few team changes and the people I loved have gone and now I'm dealing with a guy who seems to be allergic to work and keeps saying he'll defer to me. I am bored and frustrated. It is useless and mind-melting

Weirdly I got given a pay rise last month without asking (I am absolutely not complaining, just bemused because I got called in for a meeting and was expecting a bollocking)

This was me, OP. I had a very public breakdown!

If you are planning to have DCs in a couple of years I'd stay put! Sounds like you could juggle that without needing childcare.

Try the NHS.. retrain as a nurse, work much harder for half the money. Job satisfaction can be great if you can find it!!
Seriously, I'm shocked how many of you seem to have highly paid jobs and do very little. Not good for you but clearly some advantages!

I got into it by mistake after doing my degree as I'd covered it in a module and liked it (and got a first in that module with no effort).

I work for a large org and my job is to tell them what to do in essence. I do some strategic stuff but not much. It's mostly ad hoc.

And now to do my hours work for the day ...

Again I disagree with this too, sorry. Unfortunately there is always a financial reason to stay but moving you often get more money and well paid mat leave is NO compromise for fucked up mental health.

I've been in this before, I think it depends on where you are in your career. Still young and long way to go yes its soul destroying so you should move and go where you get all the experience you can so you move up. Much older or have kids well its be quite nice actually, not too much stress etc, mind you good for a while but also not forever.

I am sort of in a similar situation now expect I have one piece of work I enjoy and want to get the experience of but I know I'm coasting 60% of what I could be however after no payrises and years of doing more time than I should its a welcome break. Once this work is over I'll be moving on, keeping an eye out for new jobs at the moment. So whilst your looking, enjoy it because when you move on itll be working at 100% if not more

YANBU OP. My first job was like this.
Great, I was getting paid lots. But the gravy train wouldn’t last forever. I’d eventually want to get promoted/better job … how was I supposed to do that with 0 experience?

Especially as a data scientist you can do endless online courses/self learning but the real skill is in doing the job.

You’re in demand. Find another job…

Jammy!
Save up.
Have stimulating hobbies.
Do something (extra study etc, you'll know what will help) to extend your career potential. You're in a great position now but can't putting 'sitting on my arse for five years' on your future job applications.

It's a tricky one, OP. I guess that given you're pretty new into your career (if you even see it as one?) you'll be wanting to progress and carve out a future. If you were a decade or two further down the line you'd see your current situation as winning.

I was a director in a multinational and now work for a business consultancy. Since Covid meant cutting down on travel, we've had to be more creative with some of what we can achieve without being face2face with clients. It's essentially left me with very little to do a lot of the time, although I'm still very much in touch with clients and have lots of calls with them discussing work more junior colleagues are doing for them.

The difference is I'm 50 now and having flogged myself to death for decades - including extended periods of travel to some awful places - and I'm now relishing a few years of what I feel is coasting towards retirement. The company still feel I'm doing a great job retaining clients and up-selling work to them as an accidental aside, which suits me fine.

If you're really unhappy then definitely leave but don't feel guilty about your current situation. Put the shoe on the other foot - if you're going to be annoyed with anyone, be annoyed with your boss for not giving you work that will help you progress. Don't be annoyed with yourself, you've raised the lack-of-work issue with them.

I can empathise with this situation being stressful early in your career when you’re trying to build expertise, and agree that a change will do you good.

As a burned-out GP in my 40’s, I’d absolutely love to wfh, earn a decent salary and have time for house/garden/writing a novel, instead of working 12-14 hour days and sobbing in the car on the way home from sheer mental/emotional exhaustion.

why do you think my manager lets me get away with it? Always wondered this

Also OP can you move internally? Network your way to a better position? Speak to other people?

I talked to everyone I met until I came across a team that was looking for someone, and had a good boss. Convinced someone I knew in that team to take me on. Thrived, got promoted and really launched my career.

Your feelings are valid. I am busy at work but very bored and this is enough to get me down a bit and look for a new challenge.
Data science is a massive and growing field - just start applying for other things there will be some better roles which would better stimulate and develop you.

Are you doing everything you should be, to time and standard? If so, they just don’t care how you are spending your time.

but in a weird way I feel like the least I can do is move the mouse every 5 mins. Almost like as if it's a form of punishment.

Oh my God, OP, that's Kafkaesque in its devaluation of your life. Please stop this. Contact your line managers and HR and say that you appear to have a lull and don't want to stagnate. Please could they give some clear outlines for your career progression, goals and targets in the next 3,6 and 12 months? Then have a meeting with your bosses, so they can upskill you to share some of their workload. Or recommend the company put you on some courses to improve your qualifications.

Is it possible that your line managers also have no work which is why they aren't delegating? There could be scores of you, all faking mouse activity.

They may not even want another person. Someone else has a ‘recruitment target’ they need to hit.so they hired you and popped you into this team.
Howveer there’s always work, nothing to stop you getting involved in other peoples projects, maybe finding a new role that way?

I have two full time jobs working from home and I feel like this 🙈

Pointless, irrelevant virtue signalling here.

OP. I am in a similar situation. I have made it clear to my boss and have taken on as many extra projects as I can. Boss keeps telling me to stop as a new, massive task is just around the corner. This has been going on for 2 years. I have been learning a 2nd language during this time though and am not far off retirement.

I’ve been in your situation and it sounds great in theory but the reality is awful. I felt I was wasting my life and lost a lot of confidence. Definitely the right thing to move on from there!

I’d love your job, har har har. But it’s completely mind numbing and soul crushing to be in your position. Is there training you can do? Even free online courses? Even if they’re not related it might just fill your time and it’s extra things ok the cv maybe? I hope you can find something new soon.