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?

If you agree, maybe you could shed some light on the claim about the economy then? I was quite bemused. It's not immediately obvious why only spending money on childcare, public transport and food counts. Even assuming food means sandwich shops and similar rather than eating per se, it's a strange claim.

Really?? Unfortunately my workload didn’t allow me to have a bath and I am happy to say that. As far as I was concerned, I was a public employee - you, the taxpayer, contributed £15 million to my employer so I made sure i did my best so I could sleep with a clear conscience.

"If you are employed with expertise and knowledge and nobody is asking for your input to improve things, it's because they do not rate your ability to help. "

I completely disagree with @GRex and @Melisha.

Companies are very different. Dh and I know a lot of people and all their jobs are very different. The company they work for might be a start up, wanting inspirational and committed people, a massive ftse top 10 company that have established criteria and procedures. Other small or medium sized employers push constantly. But many are run by one person, who's always done things this way, very relaxed and just like to tick along.

I've audited a lot of different companies. The company I am at now are lovely, very relaxed and so long as the work is done no one cares. MD plays golf all the time, dept next to me had ascot horse racing on all week.

Please appreciate that not every firm has employees nose to the grindstone, having to account for every minute of their day - you've got to appreciate that firms are very very different.

@Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong That's just simply not true. You don't understand how lots of industries work or what drives value creation in those industries. Absolutely no one is 'paying for it' and if it wasn't driving value they'd stop it. Highly specialised workers cannot simply be hurled at another department or project. They would cause chaos. It's just absurd to suggest that the millions of highly educated workers that work like this are on the top of the redundancy list or that it could be done differently. They can use consultants and guess what? They're more expensive and not as invested in the project not to mention they fuck up the timeline because they are juggling multiple clients.

It would be like saying the actors on a film shouldn't rest on days they aren't filming. They should get to video editing or write the next scene....it's absurd!

I would love to know which profession I should have gone into to reach this stage. I'd be so happy.

Lol - can tell you work in the private sector 🙄

Causally following 👀

Well, that may be true to a certain extent. But again, not always.

My most senior role was c suite in a tech firm serving the education sector. We made time-saving tools for teachers.

I had a big emphasis on work-life balance. I shored up our reserves, I renegotiated contracts, I killed a lot of the dead wood overspending - and I passed those savings on to schools, increased salaries, cut hours, increased holidays.

I let everyone use all their talent and creativity, and stopped clock watching, presenteeism and pointless meetings. Productivity through the roof. Hours worked down.

It could be that way for everyone. Just because lots of firms have regressive working practices doesn't mean I feel compelled to join in.

I bring in far more money than my salary. That's why I'm highly paid.

The bitter posters aredescribing what they'd like to be true, but it just isn't. I'd be far down the list of redundancies for my employer. I have no impact at all on how quickly customer calls or emails get answered. AI will never be able to do my job.

I understand the jealousy but people posting this crap are making themselves look silly.

Why do you worry about redundancy?
Do your managers believe you work full time?
I presume you must do something very niche. Are there only a few people who could do your job so if your employee goes under you'd find it hard to find the same work?
Have you got a contingency plan? Having that cloud over me would really impact my wellbeing.

What do you do?

I fucking slog my guts out for around 40k and have a major health condition. I want to go part time and I can't see how I can afford it.

That's an aspirational salary for me .

Hilarious 😂

In my experience it has everything to do with gender, I can tell you have never worked in the city! The amount of men, still, in 2024 doing next to nothing and taking huge salaries is shocking. It’s genuinely inspired me to fake it till I make it myself and I’ve definitely been given jobs above my skill level. Then I’ve just made it up!

Worry was the wrong word. I sometimes wonder about it because companies often restructure. But I have loads of savings and niche skills, I’ve been headhunted 3 times this year alone so I’m definitely not ‘worried’ as such.

I studied for 8 years. My role is more problem solving and critical thinking, so I’m not in a transactional role where more time equates to more ‘doing’. I saved the company around £3m last year through supply chain alone. It just doesn’t take me 40 hours a week 🤷🏼‍♀️

Working from home actually makes you realise the time wasted in an office. The jobs being done by those like the OP used to take 40 hours of office time because it was interspersed with mindless chit chat with co-workers.

I'm far more efficient working from home so I'm in a similar position. Instead of casual chat about the weather I get my laundry done.

It just feels different to be 'doing nothing' at home and 'doing nothing' in an office. In both scenarios you are probably thinking about work a fair bit. But in a role like you describe, headspace in between deep thinking is equally important. I think this is the difference you describe between yours and, as you say, a 'transactional' role.

In my role, I'd be burnt out if I was fully focused on the core element of my job for 40 hours per week. I have short periods of full concentration and problem solving, some mundane organisational tasks and the rest is thinking time.

I wish people would share what kind of jobs these are. obviously not the specific details of their role and employer but what these jobs are in general!

So many responses here from public sector workers (ex NHS myself!). While many working in the public sector are over-worked and under-paid, overall productivity is shockingly bad. Working effectively and efficiently is the key to success, not working everyone to the bone while still resulting in poor outcomes and low productivity.

Compliance

Tech sales

Auditor

@lalalapland @sugarbyebye @LadyWhitwell wow thanks haha! Areas to keep in mind. It's so difficult when you have no sense of where to even start looking for well paying jobs. I've always worked minimum wage until very recently so have struggled to even think about what to work towards to improve things for myself.

Sales/fuel trading