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?

I think it's more common than you realise at that pay bracket.

I wfh, similar salary as you OP. How busy I am depends on what's kicking off, if nothing I can have very little to do. But my role, knowledge and relationships are needed.

I do sometimes work outside normal hours l, but it's rare.

I work in a non scientific role (think PA type) in Pharma @GettingBetter2024 - there's a lot of money in Pharmaceuticals!

If I were you I’d put my feet up!

I earn a lot more over 150k but I’m contractor and it’s normal in my industry (I am actually much lower paid than others )

working 20% capacity but I have to take a lot of crap from dickish bosses!!!

It does seem that these are salaries £50k + that pay this. I am more than happy to move into a different career if this is where it leads. But how?

To be fair, I expect most people on these kinds of salaries who don't work long hours took a reasonable time to get there.

Im in a consultancy type job and doing very nicely now, but spent many years working long hours, travelling loads and not earning a lot.

I have worried about this I am on £50k but tbh I have such a good team now that this is why it’s easier for me, I’ve made my own life better! However I am expected to be on call all the time and contacted out of hours and I have to do some things no one else would want to do. I assume that if I was working as hard as I used to when I was in a lower paid job, then this might indicate I have issues in the system I have set up, and it’s not working well so would alarm me. There are peaks and troughs, sometimes I will be swamped and sometimes I am not.

Yes it took me 25 years to get here and I started out cleaning toilets, I’m never embarrassed about what I did for work in the past it’s good honest graft and I respect anyone who does it.

I'm on similar money, but am employed at a level well below my abilities. This means I can do the job in a fraction of the time it would take someone working at their optimal level.

I probably work about 20 hours a week but am employed FT.

Luckily I have lots of interests and hobbies so am never bored. My skills are in very high demand so I don't worry about job security. I wouldn't want the hassle of changing jobs but could get a new one within a week if I were made redundant (legal advisor within charity sector)

Honestly OP I wouldn't worry about it. If you are worried, could you apply for jobs at a higher level? Otherwise just sit back and enjoy it.

60-70k freelance.

Often less busy, but what I do carry as much more responsibility if that makes sense.

I have 2 jobs. In the one I am paid more for I am paid for what I know. In the other role ( the doctor bit) I am paid for what I do. I earn circa 150k I work around 45 hours a week, but some of that is thinking or reading so can do that whilst eg: emptying the diswasher or hanging the washing out.

Started on £18k working 50 hour weeks during busy season. Now on just over £100k as a 10 year post qualification chartered accountant in financial services (back office). Peaks and troughs but when things are calm I expect to spend Friday afternoons planning for the next week and not to work evenings (when things are busy I’m often still working at 10pm but that’s far fewer hours than I did when I was qualifying!).

60k, I’m a Doctor and working extremely hard in a very stretched system. Weekend/holidays/evenings …. Missing all that makes life worth living. Staying late very often. Like many of my colleagues I’m thinking of jumping ship. Leaving the country or leaving medicine.

@TorroFerney that made me laugh about stating the obvious as it’s the same here! One of the bigger parts of my job is just asking a lot of questions to get people to actually think about the content they are producing.

For anyone questioning it I think that it is like other posters said; risk. A lot of responsibility lies on my head and the buck stops with me. If I was swamped with work I would be concerned I would not be available to step in as quickly as I am able to, to make a decision or resolve something. I am a business manager with a board of directors and have to manage all of their expectations, demands (alongside everyone else’s) make sure the business is financially stable, functional and safe. I have to manage legal issues too, and know when to escalate or de-escalate something. I am able to delegate work to other people but I need to have an overview of what is going on. I notice those who are overly busy in my role like to micromanage and want all control and not happy or trusting to delegate so often burn out very fast. That life isn’t for me!

I suppose the one thing I would say is it took a lot of sacrifice to get into the job in the first place. I had huge numbers of exams and lots of pressure and cost of training etc. On that basis I feel I’m owed some downtime but can’t help feeling cooking a casserole and having a bath during work hours is a bit too far! I guess I would worry whatever really as I have a lot of financial stress

edited for typo

The hardest jobs I've ever done were the worst paid.
There's certainly stress with my job and lots if awkward conversations that need to be had and some long hours.
However, it's not hard as such.
I'm paid for my knowledge and experience in the sector and to "bring people along" with me. Oh, and to take the blame when the shit hits the fan. I'm basically a shit umbrella for my team.
But no, it's not hard work.

I was well paid and underworked in my old job and found it so stressful! Always at the back of my mind there was something I should or could be doing but wasn’t. And when I did have a project it took an age because I procrastinated as there was no urgency. WFH def makes it worse as you can’t even tell yourself they’re paying for you to be somewhere.

I took a chance and moved to a much higher pressure job for only a small pay rise. I’m so much happier! Still only work 8-4, but my days are full, interesting and challenging. A bit of stress here and there but productive stress. I think my stress in the old job bordered on depression!

I feel your pain OP. Maybe give your house one last spring clean then start looking for something more fulfilling.

Is there any way you can develop your own role OP?

Eg attend a webinar and offer to do a training session to the team. Create some process documents. Write some guidance for new joiners etc etc.

Could you speak to different people in the business and see how you can help them?

Agree don’t say you have capacity too much.

I earn the same as you OP (pro rata'd because I only work 4 days a week). I'd say the actual hours "worked" in my role equate to around 15-20 per week, at most. I'm contracted to work 30 a week. But that's the number of hours I need to do my job, and my boss is happy with my output, so 🤷‍♀️

If you can do it in 10 min then it's not an hour job, is it? May I ask what you do and what qualifications/training are needed?

I was the same OP and I didn’t like it, day dragged by. Starting a new job on Monday where I’ll be on less but learning more.

Teachers, nurses work so hard for so little. It’s the admin staff you need to watch if you want a bullshit job (not all! Just some). E.g. I worked in FE during pandemic, admin staff furloughed for 9 months, not missed (we all had access to info we needed), came back and slotted right back in, doing nothing.

Husband was a well paid lawyer and worked like a dog. He travelled a lot (away 120 nights one year) and would fly in and go straight to the office. Any holiday he took also seemed to include a few several hours long conference calls.
My sister is a doctor and does up to 48 hour shifts at a psychiatric hospital - I'd say she works about 60 hours a week and is in her mid 60s. Paid well but works unbelievable hard and finds it hard to relax when at home as she feels she's not using her time off well if she's not actively doing emerging.
I was never that well paid (creative job) but I still worked hard for 45 hours a week as always in deadline.

I’m similar, £47k and some days I’m asking myself what am I supposed to be doing. I just have to keep telling myself they are paying for my brain to be available. My boss says I’m there to get people to think more strategically and ask the obvious questions they might have missed. I think the main issue I have is our organisation is going through a huge amount of change so I think a lot of people are kinda in limbo waiting for decisions to be made.

Maybe it’s something to do with your organisations culture?

I work so hard (teacher) I do 4 days to try and have a break and switch off but usually work it. Often don’t have time to eat at lunch because of sorting out problems. I’m very tired and jealous.

Its not bad in terms of hours but what i do do is mentally difficult & stressful/high responsibility. A fuck up = a lot of money.

I didn’t love jobs where I felt under capacity. But it was the type of job where people really wanted big projects and you’d have to do timesheets. People with empty ish billing wouldn’t last much longer

If you're bored, not enough to do, come work in the NHS 😬