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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:
FunnysInLaJardin · 01/12/2023 14:13

I earn about the same, part time and at the moment it is very quiet.

However, in general my day is filled and I am nicely busy. I rarely have to work beyond my contracted hours, but occasionally it will be very busy and so I have to work extra.

It evens out, but I have to say I would be uncomfortable if I were routinely quiet

LoveSkaMusic · 01/12/2023 14:20

So, I'm in a Director-Level job.

I'm not paid for being busy, I'm paid for having the right answers at the right time, based upon 25-years experience in my field.

I manage three teams across very different types of work, but basically spend most of my time sorting out people and project problems. I have broad knowledge of every part of the business, alongside my speciality, and will step in for the CEO and COO at times.

I get days, like today, where the only gap in my diary is 30 mins wide and have to rely on wrapping up meetings early in order to go to the loo. Other days, can be very variable, even to the point where I have 30 mins of meetings in the morning and nothing else. It's those days where I can let off the gas and check in on my teams output.

I sometimes make the joke that I'm paid to talk, but the reality is that everything I say is backed by knowledge and experience and that is what the company pays me for.

lemoncurd1995 · 01/12/2023 14:22

Honestly, I feel like I did more and my job was ‘harder’ when I was earning 18k compared to what I do now in a management position at 70k…

yes I’ve massively upskilled and gained a lot more responsibility. But in terms of work hours, life seems much easier. Don’t get me wrong, there are times I’m working 10 hour days solid and weekends. Other times I’ll have little work for 2 weeks.

I do also think Covid and wfh has massively changed work dynamics.

IveOnlyEverHeardOutwithONHere · 01/12/2023 14:27

Nope, I get paid just above minimum wage, and I’m expected to know everything and deliver the moon on a stick.

Snuffey · 01/12/2023 14:31

As an ex primary school teacher, reading this makes me feel sick. When I lived in London, I worked 7:30am to 6:00pm in school pretty much everyday. I'd often do an hour or more at home a couple of evenings per week or a couple of hours in the weekend too and at least 1 or 2 full days every holiday. Some days I didn't have time to eat or even go to the bathroom until the dc went home at 3:15. I went almost a year without PPA because we were so understaffed that there wasn't tanyone to cover it (which is illegal, but what can you do? I couldn't just leave the class alone) and we also had to cover a lunch duty one day per week and supervise in the classroom if it was raining. After 10 years experience, I was still earning so little that I had to choose between having a car but living in a room in a shared house (in my 30s!) and living in a studio flat but not having a car. Leaving teaching was the best thing I ever did, but it's no wonder there is a massive teacher shortage when you look at the alternative careers available!

Daisies12 · 01/12/2023 14:33

I don't earn as much (assume you work in private sector) but my job is similar, peaks and troughs guided by external deadlines. We manage our own workloads, don't have set hours. Honestly I wouldn't worry, if you're doing what you need to do!

helpfulperson · 01/12/2023 14:44

I do think there are people who are paid for what they do when they do it. Where I work there is one bloke who almost never says anything in meetings but when he does it is always incredibly important and everyone pays immediate attention. I've seen him change the direction of projects by saying 'but have we thought about ...' I don't work closely enough with him to know how hard he works generally but it is such a contrast to those who always have to have their say in meetings and most of it is irrelevant.

Daphnis156 · 01/12/2023 14:46

I've always thought the highly paid do very little and all this confirms it.
Their tax rate needs to be increased as they do so little.

EasternStandard · 01/12/2023 14:50

LoveSkaMusic · 01/12/2023 14:20

So, I'm in a Director-Level job.

I'm not paid for being busy, I'm paid for having the right answers at the right time, based upon 25-years experience in my field.

I manage three teams across very different types of work, but basically spend most of my time sorting out people and project problems. I have broad knowledge of every part of the business, alongside my speciality, and will step in for the CEO and COO at times.

I get days, like today, where the only gap in my diary is 30 mins wide and have to rely on wrapping up meetings early in order to go to the loo. Other days, can be very variable, even to the point where I have 30 mins of meetings in the morning and nothing else. It's those days where I can let off the gas and check in on my teams output.

I sometimes make the joke that I'm paid to talk, but the reality is that everything I say is backed by knowledge and experience and that is what the company pays me for.

I think this is key you need the experience to get that level of responsibility and trust

I do something else now but one thing that stopped us doing little was we had to timesheet everything due to service sector

It all had to be put to a client pretty much. So some of these jobs sound a bit different

ChilliPB · 01/12/2023 14:52

I’m the same but I think I’m paid for my skills/experience and I provide technical input/expertise. I’m often very quiet, but also have busy periods. In the office the quiet days would be filled with chats in the kitchen, wasting time online etc. It feels different working from home as the time wasting tasks are different.

MarryingMrDarcy · 01/12/2023 15:02

Workbutba · 01/12/2023 13:55

@AmazingSnakeHead what an odd post. Being busier than other days isn’t the same as having a bath and watching a film is it?! And it would be hard to brag on less than 100k so not sure what that’s about.

Show quote history

Do you realise the average UK salary in 2023 is £38k? How is it ‘hard to brag on less than £100k’?! Jesus Christ almighty give me strength 🙄

Allfur · 01/12/2023 15:03

So what are these jobs?

Original poster
Workbutba · 01/12/2023 15:12

@MarryingMrDarcy my post clearly wasn’t a bragging post for goodness sake

OP posts:
MarryingMrDarcy · 01/12/2023 15:25

Workbutba · 01/12/2023 15:12

@MarryingMrDarcy my post clearly wasn’t a bragging post for goodness sake

Of course not! Because you earn far less than the national-salary-bragging-rights threshold of £100k. 👍

Totalwarbanner · 01/12/2023 15:34

Well I’ve been looking for the sign to finally quit (nursing) and retrain into something else. I guess this thread is it.

It’s actually made me cry in frustration.

Fuck looking after everyone else’s sick relatives for a pittance. No time to eat, to think, so stressed I don’t sleep.

Shutthedoormargaret · 01/12/2023 15:36

I work PT but my FT salary would be just under 60k. I have plenty of time to tidy the house, run errands etc even in my PT hours. Sometimes it's busy but mostly its manageable. When I am productive I bash out enough work to 'earn' my salary, I'm paid for my knowledge and experience as well. But I don't let on to work I'm not working full pelt of course.

madaboutmad · 01/12/2023 15:42

I get paid for my decision making, not my labour. I am good at making decisions and make a lot of decisions, but then other people have to get the outcomes sorted. I tend to work pt, but I’m the highest paid person.

HurricaneTamer · 01/12/2023 15:49

Yup. Make a lot, work a little. I assume I’ll be made redundant at some point but then, I think a lot of people in my industry aren’t as busy as they make out and are earning a lot more than me.

clopper · 01/12/2023 15:51

To be honest this is just annoying to read. I have been a primary school teacher for over 25 years. I work really hard and hope I impact positively on children's lives.

The job has changed so much during that time to encompass elements of social work, counselling, mental health support ( for parents and children) safeguarding, admin, health and safety, risk assessments...it goes on. As well as teaching children skills to read and write, calculate and enjoy sport and music.

So although I can't maybe spot a legal loophole in a contract, I also have important skills which help society. People on this thread are admitting that they are doing very little work for such a lot of money.

In fact I feel fairly paid as am at the top of the scale plus I have enormous job satisfaction.

The people I feel most sorry for are teaching assistants, carers for the elderly and nursery staff. Such poor wages to care for our most precious people in society. I think they have a different set of skills of empathy and care which are sadly not valued enough. Not everyone could do their jobs.

So I would feel guilty honestly for taking a large wage for very little work. I think we need to stand back as a society and see that for cohesion there needs to be smaller gaps in money etc. between us all. Also to recognise that many if the people in well paid jobs have benefitted from cultural or social capital e.g been encouraged to go to university, had a stable home life and a secure warm home and networking and connections. I know that my success in life is largely down to this and I'm thankful for it.

Allfur · 01/12/2023 15:56

Like a nurse doesn't have to make any important decisions

YouJustDoYou · 01/12/2023 15:57

God, I wish. I was working 40+hour weeks, expected to do free overtime, on minimum wage, never saw the kids, utterly shit life. Now I just don't bother trying to find these magical unicorn jobs of financial wonder, it'll never happen to me.

blabla2023 · 01/12/2023 16:05

@Daphnis156 if i have a lot do do, you (and the uk population) are in an incredible amount if trouble.
I’m here to be fully available when the proverbial hits the fan. I’m not here to do busywork.
If i’m distracted, other people will suffer.
It’s a bit like asking firefighters to do some work somewhere else when they are no calls. If they are not st the station when the call comes, people will die.
In my case, people can get injured, and the economy can get a massive hit.
Its not the amount of work that counts, its what you do. Agreed, some people do a lot of important work and should be paid accordingly, but many do busywork.

EmpressoftheMundane · 01/12/2023 16:06

Without context and detail, it’s hard to understand whether people should feel a bit “guilty” or not. There are a lot of senior people making poor decisions driving extra work and risk into organisations, but they are hard to identify because of the subjective nature of the decisions. The people making those bad decisions often don’t even realise it. They are completely deluded.
In jobs with a lot of discretion, you can choose to work hard or coast. I am bossy, curious, and like to keep busy. I naturally seek constant improvements in my department and the way that it interfaces with other departments. Sometimes I have to take a hard look at myself, am I generating heat or light? Because it’s all linked together, I’m pulling the pace of others. Is this good? Or, am I unfairly overloading other parts of the organisation?

godlikeAI · 01/12/2023 16:08

I earn v well and make it my business to try and do as little as possible - it’s my own objective for myself, every year. Never feel bad. Men have been doing exactly this since forever, whilst women are made to feel like we should be grinding away or we’ll get found out

96waystobehappy · 01/12/2023 16:20

We’ll this has answered my question :

When Ai gets rid of most white collar jobs in next ten years, will those more skilled workers come after our jobs.
and:
How would universal basic income work? Will everyone get it and you can work if you chose and would the available manual jobs then go to the more educated?

The answer is clearly no, because you lot wouldn’t know a days work in your life. 😂