To ask how much work you actually and honestly do if you’re highly paid? I am worrying!

[workworkbaby]

I’m on 58k. I know it’s not huuuge money, but it’s decent. Honestly, I do very little. I worry all the time about job security and have mentioned to managers I have capacity to do more etc. Sometimes more will land and other times not. As I work largely from home I often find myself just hanging around. I wonder if this is common? I have a toddler in nursery so I can collect them early sometimes which I love so I’m not complaining but I do worry… anyone else?

£50k and I work my arse off! I’m a teacher!

£185k and I do basically fuck all

You are an absolute angel, you should be paid at least £137k x

I just want to echo what others said on how you get a role like this, it's been done the same way for me. I started 20yrs ago at the verrry bottom of the pile. I've done early starts, late finishes, weekends, christmases and hard, hard, physical graft. I once did 55 12hr night shifts on the trot. That experience coupled with the academic stuff i did on the side at my own expense, CPD, every conference going and professional memberships is invaluable. Put it with my proactive, personable nature and its an irresistable package for employers 😁

Incidentally i'm a rare rags to riches too. Poor upbringing in a northern town, then bankrupted by my ex husband. Cant keep me down though, you have to be relentless in those circumstances if you want to break out.

My job is pretty relaxed and I earn similar OP.

The point is often that we worked very hard when training and for a low pay, now with experience and expertise we can get paid better and relax more.

I dont think many jobs pay big bucks for a relaxed lifestyle from the start.

Yep I did similar and worked every hour…

£80k and I can collect my son from school a few days a week. I can be busy but more often I am not and have plenty of breaks and stuff when WFH.

@workworkbaby What do you do? I mean, I’m on the same kind of money as you but it’s civil service so I work minimum 70-hour weeks and can’t even get a lunch most days. I would kill for some more downtime, or even a 40-hour work week 😂

This! I work in the public sector, earn quite a bit more than you but work 12-15 hour or plus days. I am highly skilled, lots of experience, paid to weigh up risks and make decisions. You just do as you are serving your community against the back drop of increasing demand and reduced funding. Being unproductive - although there seems to be a perception amongst some we aren’t- is an option. I love my job & couldn’t be bored I would have to look for something different to be fulfilled in the workplace - that’s my driver it may not be the same for others in different fields/sectors & that might be ok for you.

Colleagues constantly talking about how stressed and busy they are (same or similar role). Have concluded either:

• I am hyper efficient
• They are hyper inefficient
• People have different thresholds for what constitutes busy

Absolutely @2024namechange same here. Colleagues constantly saying how busy they are, how exhausted they are etc etc. I’m constantly wondering if they’re lying or just really shit!!

WTF ARE THESE AMAZINGLY PAID JOBS?? Spill the tea please!
Im genuinely interested, in a world where we are all juggling all the balls share the knowledge, I’d happily retrain to WFH on 55k and see more of my kids.

I work for the NHS, have no prospects of increased pay unless I do overtime, highly skilled and 20 years experience but that’s where we are.

I would take this as a great opportunity to start saving money. A poster above was right that having six months of living expenses that are never touched unless you find yourself without a job is the right move. You also want to have money in the stock market (an index fun) for retirement too (again something you never touch). And use the downtime for work to your advantage, read books about your career, learn a new skill, organize your life. If its not your job to bring in clients, create projects, etc then do the work thats assigned and use the spare time to make your life easier/better (tidy, workout, batch cook, do stuff so that when your toddler is home you can have one on one play time, etc).

Earn peanuts and work for the NHS, band 3. Mental health based. I work 12 hour shifts- strenuous, gruelling, very hard work. I agree with those who have stated that those who earn less seem to have the more strenuous jobs.

I'm on £62k and work less than I did when I was on £25-30k. But I grafted to get where I am and am paid more now because of the experience I have rather than the hours I put in.

Those on over 100k, I’d be interested to know your age and whether you’re IT, Finance, Law or Sales (other?)

How i envy you all in a good paid job and wfh… i earn decent and job is not hard but i find working onsite is like jail now. I cant pop a wash, prep some dinner or take a bath like you people wfh, so when i finish i rush home, spend some time with my little toddler and all the list of housework duties are endless…

I went from temp to receptionist, to admin to officer to coordinator to manager. My step-ups were always at my existing place of work. Though I changed company a couple of times. Now on 49k and definitely not as busy - though more responsibility/decision-making so it balances. Maybe see what opportunities there are at your place?

hmmm interesting. Maybe you're very good at your job and actually, you should be asking for more money (and responsibilities!). Depends on how you look at it. If you care to share, what industry are you in?

£190k 4 days per week, 9:30 to 5:30pm but absolutely no opportunity to ever work from home. So family life suffers with young babies

What we have to understand is that £££ reward is based on what the payers can afford, not on merit (not to say that OP doesn't deserve her income; I'm sure she does).

so for example you can bust a gut doing brilliant work for e.g. the NHS, but you will earn jackshit.

Doing a little less, in a sector that values a true contribution, will yield much more.

I don't work in healthcare, this is just a principle I've learned in my own line of work.

think think think about how to adapt what you do to a better-paying environment.

125k plus 10% bonus, top tier marketing company, you’d definitely know what I do and I am about 20% capacity and watch money for nothing and escape to the country every day 🙈

Been working for 14 years. Started on 18k, just worked my bum off.

I have previously worked to burnout and spend most days wondering if this is it, but I want to TTC this year so not worth pushing it. My husband earns the same but he’s pushing for a promotion - I think I can coast along on my salary now and still be able to contribute to a nice house, pets, hobbies etc.

I heard a nice quote from Amol Rangan on R4 earlier this week - you have to work hard to get the life balance.

I’m on £40k. On some days I can get away with sleeping in and being in bed all day, on other days I can end up being online until midnight. I don’t do a lot of actual work but more coordinating others to do their work.

My manager is one of these, does absolutely nothing, and passes any real work on to me. I'm sure she considers herself to be a 'leader' and 'managing' and there for her 'experience'. In reality she is a lazy user who passes other people work and ideas off as her own and lies through her teeth about it to the actual decision makers who are actually accountable. Cant wait to be rid of her.

DP is on £100k+ and doesn’t seem pressured. When WFH, he has time to bake bread, shop, cook dinner etc.

I work PT but seem to work longer hours than him. My salary is nowhere near his and I am also in a professional role.

My husband works in the private sector and earns about 100k and he says he’s flat out. He works from home sometimes so I actually get to see what his ‘flat out’ is. It’s quite civilised in comparison to me. I earn half as much as him, public sector work, 10 hour+ days and get as little as 8 minutes to scoff down some food somewhere near the middle of the day (I got 11 minutes today). I really feel like I earn my money!! I’d say take it as it is for now and count yourself lucky you have a clean house and can spend time with your child. It mightn’t always be like that!