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?

Circa £50k working for a haulier in the construction sector - tippers/mixer trucks delivering gravel/concrete to civil projects etc. I split my time between managing and driving (much prefer the latter tbh).

Hours can be longish, always doing at least 50ish a week when busy, but a lot of that is parked up onsite waiting and looking at my phone. I've been sat at home on full pay for most of the past few weeks due to the cold and wind - concrete needs conditions of 2°C and rising and the tower cranes won't operate in windy conditions.

Used to earn similar in an office job and was rushed off my feet. Always reading emails at home etc.

I think this is a really important point. We're a very low productivity society where nothing really works to its optimum level. My biggest bug bear are the potholes I have to dodge every morning. I must still confess to being surprised at this thread and how under occupied so many people seem to be. Working in the NHS, having time to pop to the loo is a luxury and it's full on for nearly 12 hours. I can't imagine being in a job where I can go for naps during the day!

I'm outer London so get London weighting - education department - look after some legally required processes (hence job security) and database stuff - nothing that I have to have a qualification for and no people management. I am the highest grade in the team that I can be without having to manage staff (which suits me).

Get in - I started at a lower level and staffing/restructures got me upgraded and in a better position.

Oooh even better no line management :did you start in an admin role or a peopley role.

I really do need to make the leap from teaching!

It hasn't stopped Jeff Bezos has it? He treats his staff appalling and yet his company goes from strength to strength. Why is this I wonder...

Eye opener isn't it.

Agree. And to be so open about it...

To be fair I think many here have made it clear they have grafted in the past.

Few people walk into a high paying "they're paying me for my experience" job without strong education and having learned that experience.

I'm 20 years into a career with a PhD & great range of relevant experience. I also have the good luck to be healthy, bright, friendly, interesting and generally able to get on with people. But I also don't take shit. I don't start every sentence with apology, I own my views and know my stuff. That's how the "easier" jobs are earned - it started with getting 4 A Alevels whilst working 2 part time jobs to save for uni. I wasn't born financially privileged (food bank kid) but my kids now are. I make it clear to them if they choose to be a TA they'll be on minimum wage & it's not enough to run a household. Obviously that's a massive societal problem but it's not a battle I'm choosing to fight from the inside.

I earn around 44k and work incredibly hard. Never really get any proper downtime, even on annual leave. I love it though.

I used to be in a job like OP and I used to cry every day and felt incredible stress. I need to feel challenged, valued, needed - in that other job I kept feeling I could be let go at anytime and it wouldn't even have any impact if I wasn't there. I wasn't doing enough to even help me get a similar job elsewhere.

So I retrained and bloody love my job now (NHS).

The more senior one gets, the more the money is associated with decision making, stressful responsibilities (such as hiring / letting staff go, impacting company strategy and everyone else's income etc) and being able to take a lot of heat from many angry people rather than busywork.
In my role, there's also lots of complex problem solving which is often best achieved with a walk in the park and a few key chats rather than staring at a screen.

I am on 85k and my role is 9-5 with enough time to walk the dog and make lunch most days, plus the flexibility to walk away from the desk when needed.

Also, in general I've found that the more senior I am, I'm paid more for what I know than what I actually do

100% this. I get paid for my knowledge base and for supporting and guiding others rather than for churning out tasks day in day out. But I have worked and studied very hard to gain that knowledge base over the past 20 years.

In my role, there's also lots of complex problem solving

Also this. And whilst I don't work flat out day in, day out, when a complex problem does crop up to solve, it's intense and full on. Hence I'm paid for making decisions and giving advice that guides the actions of others. That often feels like a huge responsibility. So there are definitely peaks and troughs in my role, despite not running around flat out with no time to breathe.

I earn £50k.

I have v few responsibilities and make no earth-shattering decisions. I mean, I'm responsible for doing my job but that's it. I don't hire or fire, I don't mentor anyone and pretty much just get on with doing my thing, largely from home. It's just the way I like it. It's a creative job and I just keep turning out to brief and everyone is happy.

Exactly the same here. I have an assistant that does all the grunt work that I used to do. It felt very strange at first delegating tasks but it’s literally her job and I’m getting better at offloading admin type functions. My boss once said ‘we’re paying you to think not fill in spreadsheets’.

I have peaks and troughs, sometimes I might have not a lot to do but it makes up for the years and years of really hard work and working all the hours under the sun for not a lot of recompense.

I think many of us are saying we don't work too hard now. But we certainly did to get where we are. I've never met anyone who walked into a 50-60k job with no prior graft. I'm my profession for example, my career pathway requires at least 2 degrees including a PhD (I have 3 degrees as I chose to study extra). On top of that it involved many, many years of supervised practice.

If this gives you an idea: I started out working and studying in my professional field in 2005. I qualified in 2016. I began studying for an additional qualification alongside working in 2018. I rose to a senior level in 2020, where I'm at now earning almost 60k.

I most definitely grafted my arse off to be where I am. I just don't need to graft quite so intensively anymore now that I'm senior, as my role involves a lot of guiding and supporting more junior staff who don't have my particular knowledge base and skill set.

Often those people doing faff all are making huge decisions that might save economic disaster for a company. I was part of a small team of senior managers recently that made a decision on a project that had been ongoing for 5 years. We replanned and restructured the project and cut the monthly spend from 1 million to about £200k. The changes are not only benefiting us financially but the project was stagnant with lots of heavily paid contractors doing nothing. The project is now flowing at pace and we have an end in sight which we’ve never been able to achieve before.

I don't know if it's been asked yet but how do I get one of these wfh 50k jobs that are easier than minimum wage?

I work at a nursery and I'm currently on my second bus as part of my 1hr 30 min commute.

Just to add - my first job in my field back in 2005 paid a £16k a salary year!! When I was promoted in 2009 it rose to £21k. Circa 2013-16 I was on around £30k... 2016-20 circa £43k. And eventually rising to where I am now at £58k.

So... I've been there on low pay grafting my arse off. It just so happened that I chose a profession that has a clear pathway of progression however, meaning I didn't stay there once I'd completed various qualifications and gained more experience.

@HiHoOfftowork , thank you for taking the time to respond. Your advice is spot on. I am in fact writing my goals for the year and have been thinking of making up my own projects. You are absolutely right that I'm not helping myself here. Interesting that you suggested leadership coaching - I found a course that looked interesting, but someone I manage asked for similar opportunities so I let her sign up for it; I should have done it myself!

Thank you for the book recommendations, too. I will order them today. I feel motivated to action the mindset shift you mention. I am really so grateful for your sage advice! 💐I felt so competent in my previous 'doing' role and have been floundering in my 'leading' role, but can see a clear way forward now. Thank you again, and thank to to the OP for starting this thread!
🙏

@Kendodd that's very true. One of my pet hates is the myth that you'll get rich if you work hard and that if you're poor it's bc you don't work hard.

It's extremely difficult to create a life different to that you were born into. Chances are that if you're born rich, you'll stay rich, and if you're born into poverty, that's all you'll know.

We've all heard stories of rags to riches but the reason they are noteworthy is because they are rare.

@PepperIsHere I was born into a poverty stricken one parent family, living in a house that was falling to pieces for most of my childhood. I still now have more money than my parent ever had. I didn't want that life for myself. So no "rags to riches" here.

@PepperIsHere . Yes both my husband and I are v well educated but fell into ill health and lower paid (professional but badly paid) work.

We realise 20 years in we dong have contacts or the range of people we knew at uni and literally no idea about well paid jobs. Just teaching/nursing/phsyio/salt etc
Our kids are bright grammar school kids but I fear doomed to repeat as they are not in the affluent world!

Sorry I meant, no being born into money here! If it's rare then it's rare. But I doubt every person on this thread being paid similar or more to me was born into money.

I earn £150k+ (varies) working in consulting, but more of a management role these days. I WFH permanently if not travelling as we don't have a UK office.

I most definitely don't work as hard as I did for 1/3 the salary years ago. It's pretty quiet at this time of year and I probably do 2-3hrs of work per day but it wouldn't be more than double that when I'm busy, unless actually travelling/on-site with a client.

Dh changed jobs three weeks ago. He’s now a manager in the same field.

Went from working his arse off for a decade £35k to this management level job at 50k.

He says the same thing, he doesn’t have to do much now. He used to have to do over time most nights to keep on top of everything now he switches off his computer at 5pm. it was actually quite hard for him to get his head round at the start that his job now is just lots of meetings to plan, delegate and oversee work rather than doing it himself.