Your tax dollars, not at work.

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So, I'm finding myself in an odd predicament, and I am not sure what to do here.

I suppose in order for this to make any sense, I should give some background info.

I graduated with my degree in mechanical engineering in July '08. I got a 3.7 GPA (3.9 if you dont include Literature classes), and I had 2 good internships. I also had good references, and my work was featured at both the Detroit Auto Show, and in Popular Science magazine. So, I figured that I probably had a good chance of beating out other new graduates for a job.

Also, the next month in august my brother bought himself a foreclosed house. The the house had a few small problems, and as such he got it cheep. He is getting married in July '09, and he wanted to buy while the market was good, also it gave him time to fix the house up. Since he had some spare rooms he agreed to let me stay with him provided I buy my own food, half the cable bill and help him fix up the house. This worked out well for both of us. The mortgage and utility bills are practically the same whether it is 1 or 2 people in the house. So he didnt have to pay anything extra for me to live there, and he also got some free help with painting things. I also got free rent in exchange for helping fix up a few rooms.

So, overall things were looking good for me. Since I was in a comfortable living arrangement, I decided to take my time applying to jobs and be selective, focusing mainly on the ones that looked interesting to me. I dont want to come across as saying that I am too good to work. I just figured I had a good situation, and there was no use in getting the first job available if it made me miserable and made the situation worse. I had almost a year before I needed to move out, and I figured that with my good resume, I would probably get a job I wanted before then.

That being said, In November '08 I was offered a job at my current company as a mechanical design engineer. The company is a defense contractor (they do stuff for the US military). I was told that I would be working on designing modifications and upgrading aircraft. My ideal job was designing aircraft (my favorite topic), and this was the best match I could find. The job pays well, good benefits, and best of all it is down south (boo Michigan winter). I took the job and I must say that I am happy I did. My boss is a very nice person. Its funny, he actually avoids eye contact, and talks the same way I do, but he is fairly social, so I guess he is only slightly aspie. Likewise my co-workers are very nice people. The job is very aspie friendly, as there isnt much socializing or interpersonal politics (that I am aware of).

The only problem I have is with the work I am given. When I was hired back in November, things were looking good with the economy. My company was about to get started on several new projects (which is why they were hiring) and I was going to start my career in engineering. For the first few weeks, they had me designing molds for the fiberglass skin panels. It wasn't the most skill intensive job, but then again everybody has to start somewhere, and it was only until the new projects started.

The problem is that the projects that our company was supposed to get never came. Companies either canceled the project, or pushed back the start date, or something like that. And as such, once I finished all the fiberglass molds, I had no work to do. Of course I wasn't the only one with this problem, everybody in my group ran out of work also. So my boss basically started volunteering us to help other departments. As such, since February, I have been doing whatever work my boss could find. One day my task was to stand there and hold tools for the mechanic while he worked on the aircraft. I also spent several weeks doing clerical work for another department (working on spreadsheets, updating records, etc.). Now really I have absolutely no interest in doing clerical work, and I really did hate the tedium. But I just kept telling myself, its only until the engineering jobs finally come in. I figured I could handle a few weeks of boring clerical work, especially since I still got payed an engineer's salary.

But what really takes the cake is my last assignment. I was told to make a change to an engineering drawing which just swaps around the installation procedure. This will speed up installation by 20-30 minutes at most. I was given 100 hours to do this task, and told not to rush. I could tell that this job was put together pretty quickly without bothering to look at the details. Some of the information I was given was incorrect, and the person who gave me the work seemed like he really didnt have any firm objective in mind. After I spent time figuring out what he wanted done (which wasn't easy since he didn't really know), I am now 80% complete, and Ive only put in 20 hours. If he had been clear with what he wanted, I would have been done in 8 hours. I am not alone in this situation, the other people in my department have been given similar simple and unnecessary tasks with long time periods to complete them and told not to rush.

So as I was sitting at my desk wondering why in the world I was given such a simple and unnecessary task with such a long time budget, I realized something. The project that I am working for is a Cost Plus program. Which basically means that the government agrees to pay whatever the cost of the project is plus a bonus to the company for finishing on time. As such, my company has rounded up all the extra engineers who are looking for work, and given them 'tasks' on this project. This allows my company to charge our paychecks to the government under the guise of working on this Cost Plus program. The tasks we are doing really doesnt make any difference, it is just something to create a paper trail of 'work' in case the government wonders why they are paying all these extra engineers suddenly.

So, that has become my job now. To do nothing but look busy and pretend to work so that the government doesn't suspect that my company is hosing them. This really bothers me. I told this to my coworker and he was like, 'well yeah, of course'. Apparently I was the last person to pick up the office politics involved. My co-worker also told me that I shouldn't tell people that I know this pointless. The company doesnt want the government to know they are overcharging them, and people who talk about it are more likely to get laid off. I understand the company's perspective, they are just trying to keep me employed. It is more cost effective to overcharge the government then to lay off a bunch of people. That's a lot of paperwork, and then the cost of hiring and training new people when the economy picks back up. But really, I didnt get my engineering degree to just mooch of the government. I wanted to do something productive with my career. Forgive the idealism, but I wanted to design and build machines that have practical use and make a difference. That's why I got my degree in engineering, and so far its just gone down hill from where I started. I have gone from mold designer, to office secretary, to tool holder, to government leech.

On one hand I just want to quit my job and go find something else to which will actually use my skills and provide benefit to the economy, but the rational side of me realizes that now isnt the best time to go looking for a job. Especially since I just moved out and dont have a large amount of money saved up. I just dont feel right wasting my time and energy doing nothing productive, yet still getting payed. It feels like stealing from the tax payers. So, for the next 80 work hours (2 weeks) I am going to have to sit at my desk and find a way to accomplish 2 hours worth of work, and make it look like 80, while also not letting my bosses know that I know I am stalling on purpose. Dang things would just be simpler if they had laid me off.

I hate getting paid to do nothing too...

I'm in a similar situation at my 'job'. It's horribly mismanaged, and do things in really backwards convoluted ways... and now the work has dried up but I still have to go to work. I mention the inefficiencies and how things could be better, and I'm told just to deal with it... and learn to like busy work.

There was some miscommunication and I didn't show up for a couple of days, I thought it was no big deal... but I they expected me to be there even with the no work.

If it's a good working environment otherwise, I'd probably stick with this job. It just seems like the circumstances that have caused the weirdness... in the future you'll probably be doing interesting things. If it's really that great of a place to work at...

Congratulations on figuring out how government works. Even people who do serve a needful purpose are often overcompensated for the amount of work they are required to do.

My 2 cents, as my AS does not harshly impede my ability to hold a job....bow to what's pragmatic.

I love that you want to do only the work needed and save the taxpayer the money, but even if you quit your job based on an idealistic foundation, the government would just piss away the savings on someone else or something else.

If you are bothered by this arrangement, start quietly looking for a job you like that conforms to your ethical standards and move under good terms when that day arrives. Don't jeopardize what you have just because it offends your ethical standards. Ethics don't pay the rent. At least you are doing something for your paycheck rather than just being paid to sit at a desk all day and do nothing.