I'm sorry if this is a long message - I've tried to be as clear/succinct as possible.
I'm on my first contract - started in January on a 12-month contract for a large global company. I go into their London office four days and WFH Mondays. I am paid a decent daily rate. I'm set up as a limited company and am under contract with an agency.
Since the start of my contract, I have had very little work to do. I report into one person as their support/deputy and do not sit on a team. When I started, I used to go with him to meetings and was invited on calls etc. I was given a small amount of work, all of which I delivered. Most of the work, however, had no context as I was not involved in wider discussions. I don’t own any projects of my own. Over time, I have stopped being invited to meetings to calls. And in more recent weeks, the work I am given has dwindled to nothing. Literally, for the last 8 - 12 weeks, I have had little to zero work. I have tried to carve out tasks of my own and presented him with opportunities for me, but nothing has materialized or been followed up.
The work he has given me in the last few weeks has been arduous - real demeaning tasks - far below my skillset and level of experience, and not part of the "job description" or role I was employed to do. For example, the last project I was given was a large data-entry type project. I suspect he gave me this to keep me at occupied and out of his hair as I’d been pushing for work. This project filled my time for three weeks. I delivered it EOP Friday 2nd August, before going on holiday.
I returned to work yesterday, after my holiday, and was expecting to find an email from my boss saying thank you for the work and outlining the next steps. My boss had not even acknowledged my email. Nothing. In fact, I returned from a week's holiday to only 24 emails, which were either spam or company-wide messages! No work and nothing from my boss. I WFH Mondays, so yesterday I was at home. Today, I am in the London office. I usually have a 1:1 meeting with my boss but, five minutes after we were due to meet, he postponed it until tomorrow.
I've asked my boss countless times for more work. I've questioned the work I have been given - highlighting when things are not my expertise or below my level of experience. I’ve pushed to be involved in other projects that I know are going on, but he keeps blocking me. I don’t understand why. I feel on tenterhooks, like any day now he is going to say he no longer needs me. But this day does not come and I’ve been in this situation for months now.
I am trying to think of the day-rate as a retainer but being without any work is draining my brain. I feel demoralised, demotivated, and depressed. I am becoming more and more miserable a person to be around. It’s having a negative effect on my family, friends and my new relationship. I used to be in a very senior position at the top of my career, and now I feel worthless and useless.
Most of the organisation is made up of contractors - my boss is a contractor, but he has been with the company for four years. He proclaims to be exceptionally busy and that’s why he got a support (me), but he does not use me.
Additionally, we work in an agile environment, hot desking, so when I do go into the office, I sit wherever I like. But, because I have no purpose or sense of being here, and no one needs me, I don't actually know anyone. After six months, I have made no friends or working relationships with anyone. I don't have any colleagues that I am working with on projects. I am only used now and again by my boss and he is "so busy", I never know where he is; I can go all week without even seeing him. Because my boss is a contractor, my boss's manager (a permie) approves my invoices. Part of me wants to go to her, as she is much senior, and explain the situation, but I am fearful of drawing attention to the fact I am being given no work as she may tell me I am no longer needed.
My question is, is this normal? Is the onus on me to find work? Or is it my boss's responsibility as a manager to task me with projects? I have never been a contractor before, so I don't know if I am behaving correctly. I go in, do what I'm told to do and come home. But this has dwindled to nothing. I literally have no work.
I've tried to talk to people about it, but they say I should shut up and enjoy receiving the money and that it's a dream come true to have no work but get paid for it. It truly is not. It is depressing and it genuinely is starting to affect my mental health.
I’ve started looking for another perm job/contract but am not having much luck at the moment. I am getting to the point where I just want to walk away from here and never come back. But I can’t afford to be out of work.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I'm on my first contract - started in January on a 12-month contract for a large global company. I go into their London office four days and WFH Mondays. I am paid a decent daily rate. I'm set up as a limited company and am under contract with an agency.
Since the start of my contract, I have had very little work to do. I report into one person as their support/deputy and do not sit on a team. When I started, I used to go with him to meetings and was invited on calls etc. I was given a small amount of work, all of which I delivered. Most of the work, however, had no context as I was not involved in wider discussions. I don’t own any projects of my own. Over time, I have stopped being invited to meetings to calls. And in more recent weeks, the work I am given has dwindled to nothing. Literally, for the last 8 - 12 weeks, I have had little to zero work. I have tried to carve out tasks of my own and presented him with opportunities for me, but nothing has materialized or been followed up.
The work he has given me in the last few weeks has been arduous - real demeaning tasks - far below my skillset and level of experience, and not part of the "job description" or role I was employed to do. For example, the last project I was given was a large data-entry type project. I suspect he gave me this to keep me at occupied and out of his hair as I’d been pushing for work. This project filled my time for three weeks. I delivered it EOP Friday 2nd August, before going on holiday.
I returned to work yesterday, after my holiday, and was expecting to find an email from my boss saying thank you for the work and outlining the next steps. My boss had not even acknowledged my email. Nothing. In fact, I returned from a week's holiday to only 24 emails, which were either spam or company-wide messages! No work and nothing from my boss. I WFH Mondays, so yesterday I was at home. Today, I am in the London office. I usually have a 1:1 meeting with my boss but, five minutes after we were due to meet, he postponed it until tomorrow.
I've asked my boss countless times for more work. I've questioned the work I have been given - highlighting when things are not my expertise or below my level of experience. I’ve pushed to be involved in other projects that I know are going on, but he keeps blocking me. I don’t understand why. I feel on tenterhooks, like any day now he is going to say he no longer needs me. But this day does not come and I’ve been in this situation for months now.
I am trying to think of the day-rate as a retainer but being without any work is draining my brain. I feel demoralised, demotivated, and depressed. I am becoming more and more miserable a person to be around. It’s having a negative effect on my family, friends and my new relationship. I used to be in a very senior position at the top of my career, and now I feel worthless and useless.
Most of the organisation is made up of contractors - my boss is a contractor, but he has been with the company for four years. He proclaims to be exceptionally busy and that’s why he got a support (me), but he does not use me.
Additionally, we work in an agile environment, hot desking, so when I do go into the office, I sit wherever I like. But, because I have no purpose or sense of being here, and no one needs me, I don't actually know anyone. After six months, I have made no friends or working relationships with anyone. I don't have any colleagues that I am working with on projects. I am only used now and again by my boss and he is "so busy", I never know where he is; I can go all week without even seeing him. Because my boss is a contractor, my boss's manager (a permie) approves my invoices. Part of me wants to go to her, as she is much senior, and explain the situation, but I am fearful of drawing attention to the fact I am being given no work as she may tell me I am no longer needed.
My question is, is this normal? Is the onus on me to find work? Or is it my boss's responsibility as a manager to task me with projects? I have never been a contractor before, so I don't know if I am behaving correctly. I go in, do what I'm told to do and come home. But this has dwindled to nothing. I literally have no work.
I've tried to talk to people about it, but they say I should shut up and enjoy receiving the money and that it's a dream come true to have no work but get paid for it. It truly is not. It is depressing and it genuinely is starting to affect my mental health.
I’ve started looking for another perm job/contract but am not having much luck at the moment. I am getting to the point where I just want to walk away from here and never come back. But I can’t afford to be out of work.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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