Entry level employee does nothing at work for 8-hours a day, has lasted 7 months without issue: 'My bosses respect me and even thank me for my work'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jan 7, 2025 6:00 PM EST

How many of you know a guy like this? He makes tens of thousands of dollars more than you do, and all he does at his job is sit around, stay "on call," and watch TV all day. I'm guessing at least one or two of your friends have a job that allows them to play Candy Crush for a considerable period of time without consequence, and I'm also guessing that you have some level of resentment and envy towards the people in that position. If you've never had a job like this, it's easy to see it as an indefinite vacation and a chance to recharge from years of constantly working. But once the novelty of such a position has worn off, the perpetually bored employee must ask themselves, "What do I do now?" Should they try to get more work to prove that they're a reliable worker, or should they continue to do the bare minimum that is asked of them? 

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    Cheezburger Image 10451671808
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I do literally nothing at work for 7 months now and nobody has noticed
    via u/Sky_00_
  • 03
    My day is pretty boring. I get to work, I open my PC and I stare at my screen for 8 hours straight. Most days I have absolutely nothing to do and the days there's some work it takes at most a couple ours of my time. I work in an open space but
    via u/Sky_00_
  • 04
    nobody has noticed so I guess I'm really good at seem busy. My bosses respect me and even thank me for my work. I don't know for how long I will be able to keep going but I'm gonna exploit the situation the best I can.
    via u/Sky_00_
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    Cheezburger Image 10451673600
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 06
    It's also my first job and an entry role without much room for progress.
    via u/Sky_00_
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    238
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    Crafty-Ticket-9165 Enjoy it while it lasts. Was in a similar situation 25 years ago. I was brought in to solve an accounting issue and once I did it, the guy who hired me asked me to just stay on in case the situation arose again. Literally did nothing for a couple of months
    via u/Crafty-Ticket-9165
  • 09
    meshosh 4d ago I had a job like that for about 8 years. I was a designer at a very small agency and for the most part I only needed to perform on one day each week. Most of the time I just needed to be there in case something happened. It was an awesome job. I made great use of my free time there. I read many books, learned to code, did freelance work and eventually learned enough to get much better jobs after that.
    via u/meshosh
  • 10
    My current job also blesses me with some free time, like a couple hours every day if I'm smart enough, which I use to work on a side gig which gives me a nice 'passive' income now. Don't waste this time staring at the screen. There are plenty of things you can do with a computer, internet access and free time. Use it. You won't regret it.
    via u/meshosh
  • 11
    Annihilating Tomato What I did when I was in your position was I picked a subject and learned it intensely. I spent weeks that turned into months learning data analysis in Excel, power bi, power query, took several business intelligence courses. They're all like $20 on Udemy. Just pick one and go hard at it for a few weeks and it will even look like you're really busy if you're following along with the class work. It set me up for multiple higher end positions a few years later.
    via u/Annihilating_Tomato
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    Majestic-capybara I cannot recommend this enough. away your days at work sounds like the life at first but it will come to an end eventually and you will have developed no skills to segue into a new job. It's also a lot easier to look like you're doing something.
    via u/Majestic-capybara
  • 13
    VellDarksbane This is what I did. Management was happy, because although 90% of the time I was just studying for a cybersecurity certification, or reading security blogs, the 10% when they needed me to work on something, I did it efficiently and swiftly.
    via u/VellDarksbane
  • 14
    Usually, direct management knows that there isn't enough work to keep someone busy for more than a few hours a day, but to ensure adequate staffing for surges of work or call outs, they're overstaffed. As long as it looks like you're doing something tangentially related to work, they're fine. In other words, don't boot up Fortnite or whatever in the office, nor watch entertainment shows on "main" monitor.
    via u/VellDarksbane

  • So much of work is a performance of productivity, valuing it over actual productivity. Similarly, school can be a performance of attentiveness.

  • 15
    Personal-Potato-69 I was in a similar position as a Designer at an advertisement agency (for some reason they were hiring but had little to no work to give me, I'd go days without doing anything), and depending on your career goals, I'd say you have to be conscious of the impact of this job. Given it's an entry role and you're just getting started, and no room for progress will likely mean you will seek a different opportunity in the future.
    via u/Personal-Potato-69
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    I spent two and a half years at the company and when I was looking for a new job, I had little to show for it. I had to take an online course to be able to get a new job but I was able to add virtually nothing new to my portfolio during my time there. Also, it deeply affected my well being and mood. I don't know how you feel about it, but bore is definitely worse than a lot of work, personally.
    via u/Personal-Potato-69
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    aldo_nova •4d ago A lot of managers act like they need more people on their team to make it look like they are growing their part of the business, so the manager can put "managed a team of X specialists" on their resume. That's how we end up with jobs where there isn't much to do. Embrace it. Read ebooks on company time. Act busy while listening to new music in your headphones. Take a walk outside a couple times a day. Don't let yourself feel guilty. Try to take advantage of the situation.
    via u/aldo_nova
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    narddawgcornell • 4d ago • Edited 4d ago I do quality control at a manufacturing plant. I stand next to the assembly line with a clipboard, pretending to check each product. When something comes by, I'll give it a solid 3-second glance, nod thoughtfully, and if management is nearby I'll scribble down a doodle :) I've even perfected the art of sighing dramatically when I don't see any issues, so it looks like I'm deeply concerned... nobody's ever questioned me. Some days, I
    via u/narddawgcornell
  • 19
    get so into it, I'll even stop the line for a few seconds, wave my arms about and say “tut, tut, tut” while shaking my head, just to make it seem like I'm handling a crisis. It's all smoke and mirrors, but it makes my day more interesting while I'm unemployed. I take a lot of inspiration from Mr Bean in the way i go about my life. I should probably go to improv.
    via u/narddawgcornell
  • 20
    rainman_1986 Are you guys hiring?
    via u/rainman_1986
  • 21
    back_one_more_time2 I can relate. I'm a senior engineer for a defense contractor and I might do somewhere around 8 hrs of actual work per week. Most of my day is spent on Reddit. But I make $110K/yr, so I don't really care. off
    via u/back_one_more_time2
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    Pineapple-Soup11 I'm usually idle at work also, but it's actually a good thing. In my field, being idle means everything is running good with no issue. If I'm busy, the rest of the place is struggling. Although the majority of my time is spent on the sideline doing whatever I please, when she hits the fan I gotta be ready to earn my keep. Been over 7 years and my boss is happy when I'm not doing much. "Thank you for sitting around" kind of attitude lol
    via u/Pineapple-Soup11

  • I think we underestimate bosses understanding of how much work we're actually doing in a day. They also understand the burden of having a job that demands very little of you and doesn't punish the employee for being in a position like that. 

  • 23
    Fair_Leave_9713 I'm 8 months into a similar situation. I was going mad the first couple months. Now I am like ok cool. I got out every day for lunch. 1-2 hours. Do all my errands. Then I watch videos. Read reddit. Look up recipes. Just about anything. Crazy part is the job is weather dependent, and I was hired during the "busy" season. We are now entering the low season, and I can only imagine how little work I'll be doing.
    via u/Fair_Leave_9713
  • 24
    Ok-Opposite2305 People notice, trust me. Especially if you work in an open space. We have an entry level person who started at our job 6 months ago and we all dislike him because he doesn't do anything and the little work that he does do, he needs his hand held through it. I don't know how he got through college. Every job does annual performance reviews and this is where is truth comes out.
    via u/Ok-Opposite2305
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    No-Painting-1178 You are in an entry level role. You need to approach senior colleagues and learn what your team does and play catch up. Don't expect tasks to be handed to you and instead learn as much as you can and offer help. Your bosses must be dealing with lot of dumpster fires everyday and there never is a good time to formally train you. If you aren't pro active, your bosses will chalk it up as being un-interested and lay you off after 1 year probationary period.
    via u/No-Painting-1178
  • 26
    HaHaEpicForTheWin They probably know, you're just there as backup. And since you aren't putting in effort, they will let you go without a second thought when the time comes.
    via u/HaHaEpicForTheWin

  • It's difficult to know whether or not to say anything about your lack of work as an entry-level employee. You don't want to alert your boss that you don't have enough work because they might give you more work and end your blissful free time. Drawing attention to your lack of work might make higher-ups see you as a disposable team member.

  • 27
    ScienceDependent7495 This has been my life since early last year. Laterally moved within my company and now have significant downtime, like I'm in my office at 8 and I'm done with everything by 8:45. I decided to study for the LSAT and just got into law school a few weeks ago. My advice: don't waste this opportunity.
    via u/ScienceDependent7495

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