Is it normal to have nothing to do in a new job after 3 weeks?

TheWildMintBear · 2025-02-23T15:32:03+00:00

I started a new job three weeks ago and I still don’t have much (or anything) to do. I’ve done all the onboarding, asked for work and tried to be proactive, but things are moving at a snail’s pace. Is this just part of settling into a new role or is it a red flag? Would love to hear others’ experiences - how long did it take you to actually start feeling useful in a new job?

DetectiveSleuth · 23/02/2025 15:36

Is it Public Sector? If so, be prepared to be sat there twiddling your thumbs for a while. The reason you may not have much to do is because no-one else is as busy as they’re making out and are hoarding the little bits of work they have for themselves. I’ve been in the NHS and Civil Service for 24 years and am well versed in this.

couchparsnip · 23/02/2025 15:36

Is it in the civil service/ other large organization?
Then yes!
It takes people a couple of months to get fully productive where I work.

MummyDummyNow · 23/02/2025 15:36

It's hard to comment without knowing what the job is really. Can you explain the role?

Matrixremooted · 23/02/2025 15:39

This happened to me. After 7 weeks of trying to find things to do, filing, cleaning out cupboards, data cleansing, I finally had to sit down with my Manager and tell them I was thinking of leaving.

The problem for me was that my Manager had done the job so many years on their own that they couldn’t let go of anything and actually give me work to do.

I did end up leaving 😄

Drearycommuter · 23/02/2025 15:40

No, not in my experience.

I am civil service and work flat out, really long days and weekends.

would genuinely love to know where all the quiet CS jobs are as I could really do with a change of pace!

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 23/02/2025 15:43

Is it a new role?

Original poster

TheWildMintBear · 23/02/2025 15:43

DetectiveSleuth · 23/02/2025 15:36

Is it Public Sector? If so, be prepared to be sat there twiddling your thumbs for a while. The reason you may not have much to do is because no-one else is as busy as they’re making out and are hoarding the little bits of work they have for themselves. I’ve been in the NHS and Civil Service for 24 years and am well versed in this.

I’m not in the public sector but I can see how that could happen. It does feel like people are busy but there’s not much being handed down to me yet. I’ve asked a few times if I can help with anything but I mostly get told to just ‘settle in’ for now. I don’t mind a bit of a slow start but I don’t want to be stuck twiddling my thumbs forever!

OP posts:

Birdielove · 23/02/2025 15:43

Public sector yes (I wasn’t given a laptop for two weeks, and then not shown anything for another two weeks)

private sector no - given tasks day one!

Withoutuse · 23/02/2025 15:47

DetectiveSleuth · 23/02/2025 15:36

Is it Public Sector? If so, be prepared to be sat there twiddling your thumbs for a while. The reason you may not have much to do is because no-one else is as busy as they’re making out and are hoarding the little bits of work they have for themselves. I’ve been in the NHS and Civil Service for 24 years and am well versed in this.

I came on to say this! Worked in local government for best part of 30 years and yes, it’s like this.

I am 100 percent confident this is why my local government colleagues are putting their feet firmly down around any suggestion they should return to the office. No one wants to sit bored in an office with too little to do. Much better to be bored and demoralized at home!

Original poster

TheWildMintBear · 23/02/2025 15:49

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 23/02/2025 15:43

Is it a new role?

No, it’s not a brand new role - someone was in it before me. So I would’ve expected there to be work ready for me but it’s been really slow so far.

OP posts:

Withoutuse · 23/02/2025 15:54

TheWildMintBear · 23/02/2025 15:49

No, it’s not a brand new role - someone was in it before me. So I would’ve expected there to be work ready for me but it’s been really slow so far.

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You may have found yourself. In a job that doesn’t have much of a workload at all, then. It’s daft telling you to ‘settle in’. You can only settle in if you have work to do! They haven’t prepared at all for your arrival, and that’s not a good sign.

If you don’t have a clear role and workload within the next 4-6 weeks, I’d start job hunting again. You’ll rot if you get stuck in a non -job. Get out asap whilst you can still sell the work you did in your old job at interviews, whilst it’s still fresh in your mind and recent.

CluelessAboutBiology · 23/02/2025 16:21

DetectiveSleuth · 23/02/2025 15:36

Is it Public Sector? If so, be prepared to be sat there twiddling your thumbs for a while. The reason you may not have much to do is because no-one else is as busy as they’re making out and are hoarding the little bits of work they have for themselves. I’ve been in the NHS and Civil Service for 24 years and am well versed in this.

I’ve worked in local government for 25+ years and I have never ever come across this.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 23/02/2025 16:22

DetectiveSleuth · 23/02/2025 15:36

Is it Public Sector? If so, be prepared to be sat there twiddling your thumbs for a while. The reason you may not have much to do is because no-one else is as busy as they’re making out and are hoarding the little bits of work they have for themselves. I’ve been in the NHS and Civil Service for 24 years and am well versed in this.

There's also the other side - not giving it all at once because most people would run away screaming in the first month.

Billynomatesmemate · 23/02/2025 16:24

I can't be the only one thinking I wish I knew how to land a job like this!

alphabetti · 23/02/2025 16:58

Withoutuse · 23/02/2025 15:47

I came on to say this! Worked in local government for best part of 30 years and yes, it’s like this.

I am 100 percent confident this is why my local government colleagues are putting their feet firmly down around any suggestion they should return to the office. No one wants to sit bored in an office with too little to do. Much better to be bored and demoralized at home!

Edited

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I work for local government and we mainly WFH and attend office 30%. We barely stop as have so much work to get through. Many of us work much longer than our standard hours and because we so busy we just have loads of flexibility built up we cannot find the time to take. Definitely does not apply to my job new starters are most needed we aim to get them up and running with plenty of knowledge about our service asap

Withoutuse · 24/02/2025 09:20

alphabetti · 23/02/2025 16:58

I work for local government and we mainly WFH and attend office 30%. We barely stop as have so much work to get through. Many of us work much longer than our standard hours and because we so busy we just have loads of flexibility built up we cannot find the time to take. Definitely does not apply to my job new starters are most needed we aim to get them up and running with plenty of knowledge about our service asap

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Yes. it is mixed. I have known teams like your and also teams like I describe. Its like this because management and oversight is weak. There should be a mechanism to identify teams and staff who are underworked, or have no clear function, and for there to be a responsibility on management to get rid of these teams/posts ( instead of holding onto them for ' status' as actually happens).. My whole team has no clear remit and, frankly, does not need to exist.