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?

@mumsneedwine The UK has a low number of doctors in comparison to other countries, in part due to the bottlenecks in training. There are far too few training posts. We're also not providing sufficient university places for students to study medicine.

Medical training posts are almost all highly competitive application processes, and then trainees can be sent wherever there is a vacancy. For example, it's common for trainees to have to move over 100 miles between placements which can change every 6 months. There are lots of families where partners live and work at opposite ends of the country for long periods.

The competition ratios can give an inaccurate impression of the availability of doctors, as it's common for trainees to apply for multiple posts in hope of getting a) a job and b) a job they can get to. I remember I applied for 4 different training programmes at one stage because as well as wanting a particular career I also had commitments limiting my ability to relocate for training, so I knew I might need to compromise on career choices because of family commitments.

Thank goodness for normality.

@Scirocco I know. But I'm not sure others do. They quote big pensions (not much help when earning £15.33 an hour and can't afford rent or heat), consultant pay (when they might not get to be one these days) and the rise of PAs. Doctors are treated like crap in this country. They WILL leave. And then where will be ? 48 hour waits in A&E to be seen by a PA with a 2 year basic qualification. The NHS is being destroyed in front of our eyes and doctors are taking a big hit.

£50k, public sector, home and office-based. Feels like there is never any breathing space whatsoever. Work hours and hours of unpaid overtime (even though at my grade I should be able to claim it, it's just not the done thing).

Worked out that due to changes in the team I'm actually covering 9 days worth of work per week! E.g. I'm technically on secondment for 15 hours a week but was never backfilled and workload from substantive post not reduced... someone leaving and not being replaced for 3 months so picking up their 3 days as well.

No opportunities for career progression and just seen someone given a new job in my team at a higher level than me because they didn't get on with the people in their old role! Thoroughly pissed off.

Here to say 50k is a lot of money. I'm on a lot less. My husband earns that and he is the breadwinner. Please don't start a post in that way it really diminishes what the "normal" people earn.

You are welcome- this is the stuff nobody tells you and take ages to figure out! You are already ahead because you’re self aware enough to realise this applies for you, so that’s a great place to start.

Just a few words of advice when looking for opportunities…. Spend a lot of time listening/ observing/ gathering insights before jumping in and potentially stepping on landmines/ other people’s toes/ looking like a try hard who wants to self promote. You need to identify an area for focus where you can add value and it’s helps to deliver your department / organisation’s priorities /objectives.

You don’t want to be that person who is trying to flog a dead horse (pet project few others care about) but want to be the person who solves the biggest pain point or problem/ improves things for a large number of people/ customers/ generates sustainable revenue etc - this will help you to achieve real impact and you can trade off that.

Bear in mind the Pareto principle and put your effort into the 20% of work that will make the biggest impact. Decrease time spent on busy tasks that have little impact (with the exception of must dos).

good luck!

It’s the main part of my job to go and figure out why things are not working and find a way to make them work. In my case it’s things not working in IT systems and inevitably answer is that the inputs are wrong or the software has a coding error somewhere. I totally agree lots of people should be able to do it and it shouldn’t be that hard so there seems no real reason to be highly paid for it. Fact is though most people are terrible at figuring out what’s causing an issue and genuinely seem mystified anyone can do it. I really don’t get why as it just takes walking through things step by step and taking a bit of time to understand how a process or application should work, how it’s working currently and what needs to be tweaked.

This is spot on! We all know these types in senior roles- who are acting well below their role, disempowering the staff below them, failing to do the strategic work that is required for improvement and why they are in their roles.

These people won’t get any further and are at risk of being managed out. I think we need a better system for educating managers/ leaders in the UK … other countries like Germany do it better than us. I’m convinced this is a big factor in our low productivity.

£50K but that's for two jobs and I work my butt off.

Name change for this. 91k plus bonus (usually 5ish) in a low tax jurisdiction. Finish early most days to collect kids from school. Expecting to hit 6 figures basic next year.

Don’t work that hard but I flogged myself to death for years to get the experience I did and so am now fortunate I can mostly coast. Very little stress these days which is great.

However, if I’d continued along the path I was previously on I could have probably been earning 500k or more. But I didn’t seem it worth it, it took too much from me.

I think that sometimes the older and more experienced you get, the easier it is to coast (in some roles anyway).

aware I sound extremely lucky but my former job did leave me with long term health implications so I’m not really!

I think you have all just demonstrated exactly what is wrong with the world.

$120000 {AUD} and I’m leaving for a lesser paid job because I’m worried I’ve permanently damaged my psyche with the stress and overload

Wow- I think that’s a huge wage- i’ve never earned more than £27k ever and currently on £23 😂 I need to stop working for charities 😂

Your manager is happy with your work. Don't tick the boat! Enjoy the time with your child.

That was a very gracious reply to a rude and ignorant post WhatKatyDid….
Not sure I could have managed that. Pluses and minus indeed… ! 😂

personally I’d just enjoy and make most of it. I get where you are coming from regards job security, as a single mum I worry as well but they could make you extra busy and still not know if you’re job is safe. Put some money aside in savings to fall back on if something happens then just enjoy

I’m a band 6 nurse (bottom pay point) and earn about 35k part time 30 hours a week, but work 80% unsocial hours to make up for the lost income from dropping my hours. And when I’m at work it is full on most of the time! For now I can cope with that, but I do worry about the effect all the night shifts will have on my health in the long term. However I do much prefer working 2-3 long shifts a week and have more days off than working 5 days of 9-5!

By your admission there's a downside to earning so much money....

Same here @Joeyhoarder. Charity pay is crap. And management are pretty lousy, too. Luckily, I work from home, so I have minimal interaction. I frequently work more hours than I'm paid for, but I see real value in what I do, and that gives me a buzz.

Don't regret it, your work is valuable!

Gosh! All these people on £50k + doing next to nothing, what is your secret?! Honestly, try teaching, you'll never worry that you're working below capacity. You'll also never earn anywhere near that...

Bloody hell wish I was on that much! I work hard for 15k 😭

I can’t bear reading these messages… something has gone very wrong for me then!! I slave away literally working 6 x 10 hour days when I’m only paid for 4 at 44k (56k pro rata) and have 4 degrees. Please could anyone reading this pm me or reply with your tips as to how I can get into something else which earns me the same or more without killing me please!! I’m middle-aged not young and I’m p’d off!!

@ORLt that is me, I am a problem solver. Not many other people have my skill set, so no, there isn’t currently another person who can come along and just do it when I am not there.

It’s either the specific skill or knowledge which can be very nuanced. I’m sure someone else can be trained to do what I do, but currently it’s me in the role and I am not training someone else. I’m not irreplaceable and would never think I am!

It’s like a puzzle, I have gained XYZ very specific specialist knowledge over the years because I am good at retaining knowledge. I have a good memory. I learn fast. There are always new things for me to learn. I don’t flap. I am confident at making decisions. That’s why I have the job I do.

I am confident my team are fine when I am busy as the systems I have put in place are safe and effective, which is the entire point of my role.

Today I had meetings that I organised and led but absolutely none of the actions from the meetings were for me to do. There were X problems so I led everyone else into finding solutions that will work and they will implement them. I’m sure other people could do this, I am not that special that I think I am some kind of super human 😂 I just so happen to be good at what I specifically do but I don’t need to slog my guts out anymore. I have done in the past.

Since I started I have grown the business and turned around many operational problems they were facing, repaired a lot of difficult working relationships between teams, put a lot of effective processes into place and made the business safer. I am not in legal accounting, I said there were legal issues that can arise so I am not sure if this was towards me. In my field there are a lot of quite niche and complex compliance requirements and regulations. Sometimes I do feel stressed but not often

I’ve clearly picked the wrong career, £54k and doing about 50 hours a week, plus waking up in the middle of the night stressing about it.