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?

I'm paid for my specific expertise not for the number of hours I work hence a very high salary for a very small numbers of hours worked. I'm not an employee though so don't have any concerns about job security.

I'm on about £90K and work around 11-20 hours a week depending on the needs of the business. I do relate to your concern but I'd also say it's more normal than you might think. Enjoy it you have no doubt worked hard to get to this point.

DH is SE as a Contractor and earns a lot more than that and at times he has very little to do, he has a long lunch, watches TV, takes the dog out etc BUT sometimes he has to work really hard with no breaks at all to fix something.
Also, he is very highly skilled and has security clearence so they pay for that

I was thinking about starting a similar thread about my son’s job as I’m worried he does so little for his good salary that it can’t be secure!

Having been a Civil Servant for decades I am used to constant hard work for 7.4 hours a day with every minute needing accounting for. 80% in the office, non stop.
DS is barely an adult but landed a fully remote data job for a US company. He maybe works 4 hrs and gets paid almost the same as me after slogging my way up the ladder. I have a degree, massive responsibility and a big team to manage.

I think US salaries are so much higher they think it’s normal to pay a young admin person £45k.

I would say just enjoy it, make sure you make your manager look good and all that. wish I could find an easy job but you’re either cleverer or luckier than some of us!

@valvolinequeen if I was running a team of 100 I would expect to be paid well for that, even if the job wasn't 'busy' as such.

What kind of sectors and roles are these jobs in?!

Whose arse are you prepared to lick?

OP, there’s too many people out there who do very little for far too much. I too would be worried about job security seeing as you have a lot more to lose than many.

I started my own business so I work for myself. That helped a lot as I get to control so much more than any previous role!

My last job was like that (good pay, though less than 70k) - it was a new post and honestly I was overpaid and underemployed. And I was made redundant at the start of this year after 18 months, which I wasn't too sad about as it was rather boring and unmotivating, though the people and business was otherwise lovely.

I did try to find other work there, and there was plenty of it about potentially but it was a huge organisation and I wasn't allowed just take on work for another team, my release had to be approved and then my time charged to the other team, so I only had one bit of work like that.

If you are in an established role that's been around a while you're probably safe, but if it's a new one there is a stronger chance someone will go 'Hmmm, not really getting value from @Greenwip's post'.

Have just started a new and quite different role which promises to be much busier than that or indeed any role I've had before and honestly enjoying having full days.

Personally if I was in that situation I'd be doing contracting work or another part time role or something as well, I'd be bored stiff.

In which jobs can you earn that much money whilst doing not much work? My poor dp earns about that but absolutely works his arse off.

I'm similar, but have to be really self motivated to get stuff done. I've just moved to a new role and it's a bit more pressure as it's new but I think it will calm down. I'm in a specialist role so can define what I do and I work very quickly, so get things done in half the time of others.

I used to have a role like this. I was really bored and tied to my laptop in case someone messaged me on chat. Left as I felt I was wasting my brain and life.

I ask myself this often OP! I'm paid a fairly similar wage for not very much. I produce some good work now and again and get high praise but often wonder why. At my recent appraisal I was told I was doing too much which completely threw me off. Today I've done some emails, had a nice bath, two loads of washing done and on the line and pulled together a comms piece to go out later this week. I'm in my 11th year, I guess I've earned my stripes so to speak but I still feel like I should be doing more 🥴

Another one chiming in to ask what job roles you lot are talking about?! I earn a fraction of your salary and I'm always busy running around with every minute accounted for. I have 3 degrees for what it's worth - so it sounds like I need to change sector!

I’m getting my tiny violin out for all of you 🎻🎻🎻🎻 seriously, if your manager is happy with your productivity then I wouldn’t worry about it!

I was in this position too a few years ago - on a £60k salary and the company was soooo chilled out. I came from an incredibly stressful job, at a £45k salary, so coming to this company was a shock to the system. It was hip startup though. Ultimately, I got bored… with little to do, I didn’t see how I could ever get promoted, so I moved into one of the most fast paced companies in the world (I don’t exaggerate here) but I love it - I’m learning, there’s so many opportunities and I’m on going into my second promotion!

If it works for you, it’s fine - for me, I could see my potential was getting completely wasted. Everyone was super bright and driven, so there would be a political battle for the little work there was to go around.

I suspect more jobs than we think are like this. It's just that most people like to competitively run around busily. Partly so they feel important and partly because otherwise they get a whole load of stick like on this thread.

Whoever said you must work in the Civil service or council is a right joker though!! I reckon those people all do about 5 people's busily-running-around jobs.

Does your manager know that you're doing so little work? If they do and they're happy then fine, but otherwise I can't get my head round a job where you have so little work to do and haven't said to your manager "I don't have enough work at the moment to fill my day, is there something else I could help with?" That's certainly the norm in my company - we do tend to be pretty busy, but occasionally whilst e.g. waiting for some information to come in, or for a colleague to finish a task before I do the next stage, it might go quiet, and it would be the norm to catch up with admin tasks that you've been putting off but also put a message on Teams to ask if anyone needs any help with anything. And if they don't then you'd so some online training or file your emails or do some industry research. We do have flexitime so you might then work a shorter day, but I'm talking say a 6 hour day rather than contractual 7, not doing just a couple of hours.

I am low paid, mainly wfh and never have slack times. It is why I work part time.

I think we're mostly talking about corporate roles, usually something quite niche and requiring specialist skills and experience which there is a shortage of (otherwise obviously they would just give the job to someone paid much less). The sort of thing that is more of a background function when running well but everyone very much notices when it isn't. It probably has to be something which either carries a level of risk to the company if it goes wrong (so thinking compliance, legal, PR, financial risk) or which can earn a lot of money or business if it goes well (so creative, development, technical/building stuff).

In the case of the former you have to be confident in your knowledge/skills and advise the business appropriately, good at decision making, calm in a crisis and self-motivated enough to ensure you're monitoring and keeping on top of things when there isn't an active problem (which a lot of time also means being good at delegating to others and also quite politically astute, knowing when to escalate/shout about a brewing problem to prevent a crisis, and when to keep your mouth shut and not cry wolf or piss people off). I work in a role a bit like this and while there are certain things that are statutory duties and must happen and so I have a fair amount of influence, everyone very much prefers their lives when they aren't hearing much from me so it works to my advantage when everything is quiet and I can work at my own pace in the background on flexible projects that make my own life easier and easier.

For the latter you probably just need to be really good at what you do, so that a small amount of effort from you equals a really good return for the company...

Similar here- it’s been a few years now and I have recently been headhunted for another promotion so despite on occasion feeling insecure about my job I must be doing something right.
I wouldn’t worry, your decision making at this level is more important than being busy with small work.

Isn't it one of those things where you're actually being paid for your many years of training and experience? A tip of the iceberg kind of thing?

@maxelly My job is crucial to bringing money in, but it is mainly women who do it, so low paid. My job also requires being calm in a crisis and self motivated and specialist skills, but again, it is mainly women who do it.

I am semi retired now and my experience has been the more senior I became and the more I earned the less I did. But I recognised that I was being paid for what I knew and what I got done, using he teams and resources I developed, managed and controlled. And for taking full responsibility for making sure that happened. So, enjoy :)