Doing very little for this salary? Panic

[Greenwip]

I’m earning close to 70k. I do have times where I am worked to the bone and very stressed (maybe 7 days since start of the year so averaging one day a month). The rest of the time I work 90% of the time from home and have naps, a bath, food shop etc in between a few emails and remote meetings. It sounds great and sometimes it is but I am constantly worried about job security. I wonder if this is more common than I think?

This post highlights where misunderstandings occur

some people will say “I’m in management/auditing/whatever”

the actual answer to that question is different isn’t it? I googled the ISO you mentioned and found it relates to vital medical equipment

of course I understand people don’t want to be too specific but this thread is uncovering a lot of useful answers

of course I see that paying for expertise is a thing

on to a different thing…

a pp mentioned staff not knowing how long data analysis would take to prepare

to me that says people aren’t being managed properly - I mentioned my best friend who just got canned from similar last week - but I am going to look at data analytics as a possible for me. IRL I seem to encounter a lot of people who say that but pre lockdown, they didn’t say it. Were they just gazing at their screens bored, I wonder.

this thread does cement my view that companies have lots of people working in tech but not lots of people at the coal face. And we all feel the effects there.

Don’t that it make you feel miffed -.be proud that you work hard for your money - I know it seems unfair but it is what it is

How depressing. 12 years in the public sector in a specialist area contributing to the good of society but poorly paid as not income generating. Not paid that much, more than can possibly be done, not enough funding to deliver massive priority areas, found myself in tears several times in the last few weeks. Not for profit numpties I guess. Cheers to the teachers 🍷

And how exactly do you know this? You don’t have any idea what I do! I wasn’t being hostile. I merely think that some of us are not as fortuitous as others. If I were in the OP’s situation, I would also be panicking and bored rigid! I’m far happier being busy.

As it is, I spent 7 years at university learning a very specialist job that I love. Unfortunately, the pay is not in line with the amount of effort and skill. I’m just pointing out that there is a huge amount of disparity between what some people are paid and what they actually do, whereas others work like dogs to scrape a living. It’s not the OP’s fault. It just highlights a lot of what is wrong in society, and don’t get me started on gender inequality.

Honestly there is no price on peace of mind and someone who can manage this.

It does sound like you are a bit bored though?

Academia is an awful working environment - I left and have much better benefits and more satisfying role in the private sector. Academia seems to generate mountains of work that just doesn’t accomplish very much.

If I was advising my younger self knowing what I know I would say develop as specialist a skill set as you can. Then when you get to the top levels it’s like you are taking the pulse every day of the organisation and if all the vitals are fine there isn’t very much to do that day but if there is a blip anywhere then you are the go to person and you have to be on. It’s a nice position to be in but you have to have put on the graft to get to that level.

I have a job like this (sorry/not sorry) and I work for a third sector organisation. I used to work in Further Education managing a £3 million budget and loads of staff, working 70 hours a week for £45k.

Now I get paid a full time wage of around £80k for what takes me about 10 -15 hours a week. I’m writing content for website, press releases, training courses, loads of creative stuff. I’m considered one of the best in my field internationally (get asked to work abroad regularly) so the quality of my work isn’t in question.

It just takes me a lot less time than it takes other people. So I don’t worry about it. I enjoy recharging with my afternoon naps and power walks. My job is incredibly secure, I am regularly head hunted but not interested.

It did take thirty years of graft to get here though.

Ye Gods.. I love my job... but I work really really hard, 9-5 (but more as don't often get a lunch break and stay late often) as an Administrative Coordinator in a privately run fledging organisation (currently running on fund raised money) for people with a PCIT health condition. for people with a special health condition.

I earn less than £25k. I'm not uneducated. , I have a 2:1 honours degree.

I guess I really must love my job because I can't believe what some of you earn for apparently not working very hard. But I can't really imagine working in a different sector because I can literally see the positive difference our organisation is making for these people. And this is NOT virtue signalling.. I'm not single handedly doing this great stuff... well only the admin (and the front desk and the PR and the finance) ... it's a small team effort.

To get to the point I'd say enjoy it I guess! As long as you're not bored. A boring job rots you from within.

Academia seems to generate mountains of work that just doesn’t accomplish very much. Quelle surprise.

Can I ask...who did you vote for?

It's probably pretty straightforward....most people in this fortunate position have specialist skills/knowledge which are very valuable when needed, but which may well not be needed all of the time.

A company can keep this expertise in-house and 'on tap' (even though it is often underutilised), or outsource it to third parties which may overcharge, be frustratingly unresponsive, share information with competitors etc..

In some circumstances the former is preferable despite the apparent disconnect. This is probably especially true for medium sized companies in my experience.

Labour voter my whole life.

Not sure why that’s relevant?

So why is OP in a panic and stressed?

No idea 🤷🏼‍♂️

Academia seems to generate mountains of work that just doesn’t accomplish very much

Goddamn all those researchers and their time wasting....

So maybe she doesn't know that it would be OK for her not to be dong anything even though her time is monitored?

I love my job and find it very rewarding. I have a work environment that works very well for me.

Is this AI? I can’t believe so many people are being paid these salaries for doing not much. Maybe I’m just in the wrong job. Does seem strange though l.

Obviously can't comment on OP's specific situation but if they're completing tasks required in less than contracted hours they presumably don't care either way if the alternatives are suboptimal.

Again emphasise it is likely a potential setup for those with highly specialised skills. If the skills were more generic then companies would feel confident they could quickly hire required staff and/or external services would be abundant and economical.

I'm in a similar role with similar pay. Every few months it gets very busy then dies down again. I go for a run / have a bath / do all my laundry on the days I'm
WFH and when in the office I make time for a gym class as there's a branch of my gym right there. I'm paid for my knowledge and experience, not how many hours my nose is on a grindstone.

Well yes that's how it should be, but in reality there are alot of very knowledgeable and experienced workers out there who are also worked to the bone, and very underpaid.

Wow! Amazed by this post and thread! I earn more than the OP, but similar to some of the replies at over £100k, responsible for a team of just over 100 plus a load of projects. I WFH 2 days per week, but regularly work more than 12 hours a day, and there is rarely a weekend when I don’t work. Having said that part of my job is to find things that need fixing. I guess I could work like OP and perhaps only do things directly asked of me, but I can’t work like that. If I see a problem, even if it’s not in my line responsibility, I have to take steps to fix it. It’s in my DNA

@Barnabyby that sucks for them. I would advise they find alternative roles if possible!

I used to have a tech job like this. It was incredibly well paid and I / we probably did about 3 hour's work per week each plus lots of time wasting meetings with managers blathering on about tech transformation programmes. There was a whole team of contractors paid like me costing £££ per week and NOBODY did any work.