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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you’re in a highly paid job but do very little…

254 replies

Workbutba · 01/12/2023 12:07

Do you feel uncomfortable or worried? I earn over 60k. I know this isn’t loads but it’s obviously decent. Some days I do very little. That said there are times I will work a whole weekend or very late night so perhaps it evens out. But on Wednesday for example, I sent two emails and had two calls and then had a bath and tidied the house. I used to feel anxious about it/job security and was always asking my manager for more work etc but they are relaxed and say it ebbs and flows, which it does I suppose. The company makes big profits generally.

Is this common? I now have a dc so I worry even more about job security. I have a friend in a different industry who earns similar in management and she has days she can be on the phone to me for 3 hours and it doesn’t matter. I wonder how common this really is?!

OP posts:
Heatherbell1978 · 02/12/2023 20:32

Earn around £65k but with bonus and perks it's closer to £80k. I definitely concur. I was a lot busier in some more junior roles than I am now. But like others have said, for every quiet day I have, I'm involved in a meeting where my input and knowledge puts us back on track and makes a difference that could benefit the company financially. I've also worked for numerous managers who earn considerably more than I do and aren't that great. I don't aspire for their roles as I'm at the highest level I'm comfortable with. So I'd be a lot more worried if I was them. My salary is quite low in comparison to my peers I think.

NalafromtheLionKing · 03/12/2023 09:32

MarryingMrDarcy · 02/12/2023 12:17

By underpaying people in the caring professions, as a society we denigrate their contribution. You might personally think they should earn more, but the system we are all part of is encouraging the complete opposite view.

Also, just to say - the only reason people in high earning professions can do what they do and make their money is because others in society aren’t demanding a similar share of the pie. Well, some of them are and good for them. Our public services workers are the infrastructure of our country; without them, things would go completely tits up.

Show quote history

Just curious, how would you make this happen economically if you were to sever the link between generating cash and making a high salary?

Taxes are already sky high so I’m not sure raising them would be a realistic option (they have been over 70% in the past but that system was shown to be disastrous from an economic perspective).

TheHolyGrailSpeaks · 03/12/2023 12:51

I think this has triggered the new rich/poor divide thread!

klajs · 03/12/2023 13:06

@TheHolyGrailSpeaks what thread is that?

SilverBranchGoldenPears · 03/12/2023 13:41

When I was a teen single mum in a shitty high rise in the 90s, with no family even in the same city, I literally sat down and thought about how I would get a job earning enough money that my child would never be in this situation or feel poor when he got older.
I knew I had to do a-levels so I sat in libraries studying with borrowed paper, pushing a buggy next to me with my feet. I called schools and asked if I could sit exams with them even though I wasn’t a student. I begged. I got to sit them. I got a place to study law and I worked nights at Tesco to pay for nursery. I worked by bloody arse off.

Nearly 30 years later, I am top of my game. I am respected in my field. I have a good salary and I own my home.

If people have chosen a career which they know will not ever pay them a high salary, yet the want a high salary then they will be eternally disappointed.
Of course people in public service roles should be paid better, but these roles aren’t traditional ‚profit Making‘ therefore this won’t happen. But no one should feel bad for planning their life and earning well.

NalafromtheLionKing · 03/12/2023 20:47

SilverBranchGoldenPears · 03/12/2023 13:41

When I was a teen single mum in a shitty high rise in the 90s, with no family even in the same city, I literally sat down and thought about how I would get a job earning enough money that my child would never be in this situation or feel poor when he got older.
I knew I had to do a-levels so I sat in libraries studying with borrowed paper, pushing a buggy next to me with my feet. I called schools and asked if I could sit exams with them even though I wasn’t a student. I begged. I got to sit them. I got a place to study law and I worked nights at Tesco to pay for nursery. I worked by bloody arse off.

Nearly 30 years later, I am top of my game. I am respected in my field. I have a good salary and I own my home.

If people have chosen a career which they know will not ever pay them a high salary, yet the want a high salary then they will be eternally disappointed.
Of course people in public service roles should be paid better, but these roles aren’t traditional ‚profit Making‘ therefore this won’t happen. But no one should feel bad for planning their life and earning well.

Wow, that’s really inspiring 😊

Cantcareless · 04/12/2023 14:49

SilverBranchGoldenPears · 03/12/2023 13:41

When I was a teen single mum in a shitty high rise in the 90s, with no family even in the same city, I literally sat down and thought about how I would get a job earning enough money that my child would never be in this situation or feel poor when he got older.
I knew I had to do a-levels so I sat in libraries studying with borrowed paper, pushing a buggy next to me with my feet. I called schools and asked if I could sit exams with them even though I wasn’t a student. I begged. I got to sit them. I got a place to study law and I worked nights at Tesco to pay for nursery. I worked by bloody arse off.

Nearly 30 years later, I am top of my game. I am respected in my field. I have a good salary and I own my home.

If people have chosen a career which they know will not ever pay them a high salary, yet the want a high salary then they will be eternally disappointed.
Of course people in public service roles should be paid better, but these roles aren’t traditional ‚profit Making‘ therefore this won’t happen. But no one should feel bad for planning their life and earning well.

@SilverBranchGoldenPears you should be very proud 💪

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 15:19

ComtesseDeSpair · 02/12/2023 01:09

The hostility on this thread is aimed at the wrong people. Be angry with the government, who don’t think that publicly funded jobs in healthcare and education are worth paying more. Be angry with parents who pay for childcare, who apparently don’t think it’s worth more than minimum wage to look after their DC. Be angry with the paid union leaders, who don’t seem to be doing an excellent job in obtaining better pay deals for their members.

Being angry that some other employees who work in different industries and who are paid via private markets are valued more for their ability to earn money within those markets is utterly counterproductive.

This! I don't get that anyone is bragging, just explaining the world as it is unfortunately. While the high-pay low-effort jobs are there, why shouldn't we do them?
It's the capitalist society we all live in that places a criminally low value on essential jobs like teaching / nursing.

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 15:24

roombaclean · 02/12/2023 07:54

Please name change and tell us what you do! Any advice for young women?

Become a chartered accountant if you can. Varied roles, fast career progression. 27% of CEOs are chartered accountants.
Also (not practical for most) - don't have kids.

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 15:30

.. doh - but if you are a chartered accountant you're likely to be very busy for the first 20 years of your career before you get to the low-task high-pay bit of it.

BoredAuditor · 04/12/2023 17:06

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 15:30

.. doh - but if you are a chartered accountant you're likely to be very busy for the first 20 years of your career before you get to the low-task high-pay bit of it.

Are you in industry?

As I'm in practice, 20 plus years and definitely not at the low task bit...!

RiderofRohan · 04/12/2023 17:28

Not currently. I'm a GP and my days are packed from start to finish. Lunch break is generally taken at my desk in between clinics as I try to get through paperwork while eating a soggy sandwich.

But I did have a job for a couple years working for a private company where I did very little. It was mostly working from home and I'd just watch the clock half of the time, I was so bored. It paid 100k+, better than I'm on now.

But despite this I went back to the madness of the NHS because no money was worth that level of boredom or lack of purpose.

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 22:56

Yes in industry! I got out of practice as soon as qualified - i would not last 5 mins working at the intensity you guys have to 😄

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 22:57

Sorry that was for @BoredAuditor

BoredAuditor · 04/12/2023 23:15

ihavespoken · 04/12/2023 22:57

Sorry that was for @BoredAuditor

Thanks. I'm exhausted and so fed up and bored of it. Think I need a change!

Any suggestions for an audit manager with 20plus years experience?

Sconehenge · 05/12/2023 09:14

ilovesooty · 01/12/2023 17:48

I do wonder who's picking up the financial cost of these highly paid people doing nothing very much until their moments of expertise and brilliance are needed.

There is no financial cost, these are people working for companies that are often owned by private equity firms. They will be people whose roles are needed, even if it’s just from a compliance perspective that you have one person in-house who can do the thing. Even if their salary is 100k, having them there ready to do the “thing” will still be cheaper and more efficient to the company than outsourcing it to KPMG at £1000 an hour.

Many of these people work for companies with no one even near minimum wage so it’s not like their wages are stealing money off the lower paid in their workforce. And even if that were a concern, If you’re looking for the real unfairness, I think we can all go after the C-suite on literally millions rather than the middle manager with some peaks and troughs in their working year.

I also totally echo some PPs, it’s great to see women having some of these roles, men have been having long lunches and client golf days for as long as these things have been in existence!

senua · 05/12/2023 10:32

Even if their salary is 100k, having them there ready to do the “thing” will still be cheaper and more efficient to the company than outsourcing it to KPMG at £1000 an hour.
Or preventing "the even worse thing" which could cost the company mega-bucks in lost profits, fines, being sued, etc.
These people are, in effect, the equivalent of an insurance premium. Most people pay an annual, affordable premium rather than take the risk of a catastrophically huge payout if things go wrong. Companies are the same, if not even more risk-averse. It's all about deciding which is the least-worst scenario.

greencheetah · 05/12/2023 10:40

@BoredAuditor

Compliance?

senua · 05/12/2023 10:44

I'm going to extend the metaphor to artistes. They can have one moment of genius (a song, a book) but get royalties or copyright off it for the next 70 years. If an expert has one moment of genius that saves the company money for the next umpty years then doesn't the expert deserve their share of that, too?

AntoinetteCurtain · 05/12/2023 11:27

@Rinkymcdinky - roles to talk to your children about :

Coding
Project management
Procurement
Supply Chain

Lots of applications in life for these skills, and all areas in which you can see exponential growth in salaries

ihavespoken · 05/12/2023 11:44

BoredAuditor · 04/12/2023 23:15

Thanks. I'm exhausted and so fed up and bored of it. Think I need a change!

Any suggestions for an audit manager with 20plus years experience?

Show quote history

Could you move to a client into quite a senior role as you will understand their business and also have the compliance / finance skills they need? I headhunted my financial controller from our auditors

madaboutmad · 05/12/2023 11:58

ihavespoken · 05/12/2023 11:44

Could you move to a client into quite a senior role as you will understand their business and also have the compliance / finance skills they need? I headhunted my financial controller from our auditors

Show quote history

That’s exactly what my friend did. EY manager to Group FC

EmpressoftheMundane · 05/12/2023 17:32

AntoinetteCurtain · 05/12/2023 11:27

@Rinkymcdinky - roles to talk to your children about :

Coding
Project management
Procurement
Supply Chain

Lots of applications in life for these skills, and all areas in which you can see exponential growth in salaries

These are great jobs, but Supply Chain, Project Management and Procurement are very pressured, even at higher levels. You have to deliver tangible, measurable results to a timeline. You will never sit back and be paid for your opinion from time to time.

BoredAuditor · 05/12/2023 22:34

Thanks for the ideas. I'm leaning towards an FC type role.

Appleandoranges · 05/12/2023 23:04

It's interesting that there are so many women who are up front about working not many hours but earning very good salaries. That must have been the case for a lot of men in the past and they did not even have any family responsibilities! Unfortunately with regard to carers/nursery workers who are poorly paid, it's worth remembering some jobs require patience and compassion, qualities the market does not reward (maybe because they are qualities money cannot buy). So respect ought to be given for those jobs, even though pay is not great! Market on the most part rewards qualities such as ambition, hard work and drive.