Bored government worker complains they were given a $20k salary increase to do 'literally nothing,' while some claim it's a dream job: 'Use the facilities, use the benefits'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
May 17, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

All the rage this spring… high paying low effort dumb email jobs. Those who have them are the envy of their friends. Everyone's selling their soul to try to get one. But for real, sometimes the highest-paying jobs are the ones that require the least amount of effort. It's one of the dirty little secrets of the corporate world. But the question remains, how do you spend your days in the office? Scroll Reddit for hours on end? Do every major newspaper's crossword? Write the next great American novel? When your time becomes yours again, that can be a daunting prospect. 

But the worst is when you're forced to still look busy, so you can't get into anything really interesting. You wouldn't want to risk shouting at your screen when you're playing the Sims, alerting everyone to your secret. That's exactly the predicament this Redditor found themselves in, and commenters came to the rescue with ideas. 

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  • 01
    "I would kill for a high dollar job where I do nothing"
    via Scott Graham
  • 02
    r/antiwork u/Seksybo 20h . I literally do nothing at my job...
    via u/Seksybo
  • 03
    I was hired about 6 months ago into a large, municipal government organization. The job was (on paper) a big next step in my career and has lots of perks. $20K salary increase, unionized, hybrid schedule, every second Friday off, onsite gym, pension plan, etc.
    via u/Seksybo
  • 04
    From the time I started, I was simply shown to a desk and ignored. At the beginning I was really wanting to make an impact. I was regularly bugging my supervisor for a work plan and some projects to sink my teeth into but kept being told "just settle into the role and do your online training". I have still done no actual work and it's been 6 months. I have biweekly meetings with my supervisor and always ask him if I'm doing okay in the role and am doing what is expected of me and he always confi
    via u/Seksybo
  • 05
    At this point I would kill for some actual work. The days in office go by so slowly but at least when I'm working from home I can just whatever I want and maybe have to respond to a random email or two throughout the day. I'm not looking for advice or anything, more so just venting and trying to comprehend what the going on here. is
    via u/Seksybo
  • 06
    mjh2901 18h When you cant do work work on youself. Network, take online classsas, work on skills. You did not mention anything really specific so I will lay out the generic, get your certificate in project management or organizational behavior. Some government jobs get hired for things that are comming down the pipeline but the pipe gets clogged. The issue is if the boss gets rid of you or does not hire you in the first place he looses the funds for your possition and when the pipes get unclogge
    via u/mjh2901
  • 07
    Sollnvictis 12h I completely relate to this. When I got promoted at my current job, I started to feel like I moved from a position of influence to an afterthought. Even though I was making $20k more a year, I wasn't getting anything done and I felt like I was accomplishing nothing. Now, almost 3 years later, I know a lot more about the ins and outs of the company. It took a little while for me to appreciate this, but no matter how ambitious I am, no matter how smart I am, no matter how capable I
    via u/Sollnvictis
  • 08
    ok Offensive_name_ • 19h yeah, I'm in the exact same scenario and I love it. My first 3 months I had no work because I was waiting for my certification. My boss was fully aware I had no work and left me alone. My work is consistent now, but in all reality, I'm working at most 2 hours a day and chilling the other 6. When I work from home, I mainly just watch tv and play video games all day. 10/10 job.
    via u/Offensive_name_
  • 09
    AnamCeili 19h You have lucked into a great situation be grateful!! -- Although I do understand how boring it must be. You could use your time to study and obtain certifications relevant to your job/industry -- that will make you look good to your current employer, and should also serve you well in future jobs. I think you should also follow up every biweekly meeting with your boss with an e-mail to him, which you BCC to your personal (not work!) e-mail address, in which you essentially recap wha
    via u/AnamCeili
  • 10
    Comixchik • 18h Write your novel. It will make you look busy.
    via u/Comixchik
  • 11
    JediLightSailor78 • 19h I had a job with less than 40 hours of actual work. But I had to go into the office and LOOK BUSY. If I didn't I was given useless make work tasks. I asked to go on reduced hours with reduced salary just to get out of the busywork and focus on my core job. This is a defined benefit in their employee handbook. They said no, and I'm currently in the final week of my notice period. I'm not into fake busyness just to salve your egos.
    via u/JediLightSailor78
  • 12
    the_simurgh • 18h Antiwork Advocate/Proponent I would kill for a high dollar job where I do nothing
    via u/the_simurgh
  • 13
    WCPitt • 12h This is only my own anectodal experience, but I've found that the more a role pays, the less I end up doing. To be fair, I'm also pretty fast with my work, but I've had 5 roles during and after college so far, and 4 of them were genuinely less than 10 hours of work a week. Two were no work at all. The 5th one COULD be less work, but it's my current main role and I genuinely enjoy it and willingly put in extra effort. Still, it's probably only 2-3 hours of work on a busy day. Regardl
    via u/WCPitt
  • 14
    Sorry_Im_Trying • 18h I'm four years into my gov't position, and I'm on Reddit for 7.5 hours when I have to be in the office. I just googled my house, then walked to my folks house in the maps. My days aren't any busier when I remote, but at least I can do my laundry.
    via u/Sorry_Im_Trying
  • 15
    Z_e_e_e_G 18h Time to organize the Penske file. red 21FrontierPro4x • 14h ... Reply 31
    via u/Z_e_e_e_G & u/21FrontierPro4x
  • 16
    CommissionOk9233 • 18h That's funny running into this post. I'm here right now because there's nothing to do. I understand your quandary, I'm not built that way and I'm betting your about the same. I want to be useful at work and have the day fly by because there are plenty of tasks to complete. I don't understand paying someone to sit there and do virtually nothing and I guess I never will.
    via u/CommissionOk9233
  • 17
    SemiLoquacious • 17h None of us can tell you what to do. On one hand, it's nice to not be exploited, not stress yourself, and make more than a livable wage out of it. The freedom is nice. Not answering to someone is nice. On the other hand, the feeling of no purpose may crush your soul. Security? Or purpose? Do not listen to any of us for that decision, instead ask the universe, or God, to give you an answer and eventually some character in a Netflix show or a blog post or an insurance commercia
    via u/SemiLoquacious
  • 18
    Survive1014 • 18h I pride myself on my work ethic. And by that, I mean I pride my self on getting my work done early, accurately and profitably so I can I off the rest of the week.
    via u/Survive1014
  • 19
    ReturnOfSeq • 14h So why the absolute dream job on antiwork are you posting about this
    via u/ReturnOfSeq
  • 20
    piotrek13031 • 20h What feeling do you experience if you are not working? Reply ↑ 7 ♡ Seksybo OP. 19h Just boredom. When I work from home it's totally fine. I just do whatever I would normally do on a weekend. When I'm in the office I spend most of my time just on Reddit and looking at stupid on the internet. It's awesome but also makes the day go by so slowly
    via u/piotrek13031 & u/Seksybo

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