Would you rather be over-paid for doing minimal/no work or be under-paid for doing valuable work?

I would rather be under-paid doing valuable work. For me, money is important but creating value is more important.

I wupold like to be paind just the right amount of pay, I used to work as a emplyee and hire people, and I don't understand why i should pay someone for doing no work

I'd be over-paid for some useless/minimal work and do my valuable work in between :) Even before startups I was doing side projects like copies, translations etc., so I always had things to do after the working day was over

The other issue is: there are plenty of underpaid useful and hard jobs and very few well paid easy ones.

I would rather be over-paid for doing minimal/no work so I could work on projects in my free time that create value while knowing I have the bills covered.

From a few years point of view I must say beeing "over-paid for doing minimal/no work" is worse then "be under-paid for doing valuable work" First of all your client or supervisor does not respect what you are doing, while you are not showing worthy of your job. In other words you are doing job that someone else may do, and may it do cheeper than you! Secondly you do job that not makes you to improve yourself - you are stuck with old technology / management / selling solutions / etc, that will not be merit when you will search for another job (and one day you will).

less work please

I love that input. I think it's very important to get the right value out of your work. No matter how much you earn, if you hate what you are doing the money will not bring you happiness. However, if you are under-paid and you struggle to pay rent or your insurance that sucks as well no matter how valuable the work is you are doing. All in all, I would say I'd rather like what I'm doing and be under-paid as long as I get payment enough to cover all my needs and maybe a little extra ;-)

What if you consider doing minimal/no work to be very valuable?

question, is the reason why you got over paid with minimal work, because you already did the hard work and it all pay off so you have more time now :). just asking :D

Unpopular opinion but I think it might depend on your current stage at life. I think if you need the money, there is no reason not to take an over-paid job especially if you need to manage some work-life things. Otherwise though I'd rather to do more valuable work.

An interesting question, actually. It seems to me that if important work was encouraged in every possible way, and the corresponding money was paid for the minimum work, then this would make sense.

Overpaid. And then spend the rest of the day doing what I like :)

I would choose under-paid doing valuable work.

I will go with getting under-paid for doing a valuable work. I have been on the other side, and trust me the experience was not very fulfilling for me. There was always a vacuum, and I felt it every single day. Sleeping with the thought that I added value to something is far greater than sleeping with the thought that I added more balance to my bank account.

I would be over paid for doing no work and do something else on the side 😄

Depends on my long term plan and current circumstance - in the short term perhaps it would be better to be over-paid for doing minimal/no work as you can use the time to do a passion project, or seek a new opportunity whilst cashing in. I have a chip about being under-paid for doing valuable work as I feel it happen way to often, and it is such a shame when valuable staff are seen as replaceable or not valued in the right way. I feel more people need to 'set the bar' and refuse this type of attitude as it paves the way for future employees to be exploited again and again if nobody speaks up. That being said it is a complex topic, as money is not the only measurement one should look to, you must also factor your enjoyment, future progression, and work culture amongst other factors.

I've been overpaid for minimal/no-work however I was still expected to be at my desk working a normal day. I think thats an important distinction. If I was overpaid for minimal work AND only had to "be working" for that minimal time, SOLD. But I'd much rather do valuable work. For the first few months, it was great, I used the time at my desk to learn, read and broaden my skillset, and periodically try to apply it to the work that was available to me. After that became a fruitless exercise, it became golden handcuffs filled with existential thought about my stalled career. I'm now on the other side, doing valuable work for less money. Too busy for the moment, but it feels much more satisfying.

Definitely OVER-PAID for minimal/no work!! I could then use that time/money to create or invest in something of value.

Under-paid. I spend too much time for work that I can't imagine doing a low-valuable work!!!