Are you 'Job Loading' and why it needs to stop now

In today’s workplaces, especially in the fast-paced UAE job market, many professionals find themselves shouldering responsibilities far beyond their job description. At first, it feels flattering. Your manager trusts you, your colleagues rely on you, and you are seen as the “go-to” person. But over time, this added responsibility often comes without the recognition, salary, or promotion that should accompany it. This silent career killer is known as job loading.

What Is Job Loading?

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Job loading happens when employees are assigned tasks that stretch far outside their official role, but without a change in title, pay, or growth path. For example, a marketing coordinator who also manages HR onboarding, or an operations executive asked to handle finance reports “temporarily.” Months pass, then years, and nothing formal changes.

While multitasking and flexibility are valuable traits, job loading is different. It traps professionals into doing more while receiving less, leaving them burned out and underappreciated.

Why Do People Accept Job Loading?

Here, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs helps explain the behaviour. At the base, people need job security and a paycheck (physiological and safety needs). Saying “yes” to additional tasks may initially feel like protecting that security. At the next level, people seek belonging. Taking on extra duties can feel like being a team player, earning respect from colleagues and managers.

But as we move up Maslow’s pyramid, the cracks appear. Higher-level needs — recognition, growth, and self-actualisation — are ignored in a job-loading situation. Professionals eventually realise that despite working harder, they are not advancing or fulfilling their true potential. That is when dissatisfaction, stress, and burnout set in.

Warning Signs You Are Stuck

Recognising job loading early can save years of frustration. Some common red flags include:

• Salary that has not increased despite added responsibilities

• Vague promises of promotion with no timelines

• Growing workload unrelated to your actual role

• Feeling exhausted and undervalued

• A career path that looks stalled despite your contributions

The Cost of Staying Too Long

Remaining in a job-loading cycle is like being on a treadmill. You are expending enormous energy but going nowhere. The longer you stay, the harder it becomes to convince future employers of your true expertise because your resume reflects a confusing mix of unrelated tasks.

There are also personal costs. Prolonged job loading often leads to anxiety, sleepless nights, and mental exhaustion. When work consumes most of your time and energy without giving back recognition or growth, family life suffers. 

Missed dinners, constant irritability, and the inability to switch off from work slowly erode relationships. What feels like “being responsible” at work often translates into being absent at home.

An analogy makes it clear: imagine being asked to captain a ship, repair its engine, cook meals for the crew, and steer through storms, all while still being called “deckhand.” At first it feels like a challenge. But eventually, the imbalance between responsibility and recognition will sink your motivation and your well-being.

When It Is Time to Move On

Ask yourself a few hard questions:

• Am I learning skills that will advance my career, or just filling gaps for my employer?

• Has my workload increased but my salary stayed the same?

• Do I see a real opportunity for growth within the next year?

If the answers point towards stagnation, it may be time to move on. In the UAE, sectors such as technology, logistics, renewable energy, and healthcare are expanding rapidly. Professionals with updated skills will always find demand.

The Takeaway

Job loading can feel like recognition at first, but in reality, it is a trap that delays growth and drains motivation. Maslow’s theory reminds us that once basic needs are met, people seek recognition and self-actualisation. Job loading blocks that progress, leaving professionals stuck in survival mode.

If you are carrying more but getting less — less pay, less growth, less recognition — the message is clear. Do not stay trapped. Either negotiate for proper recognition or prepare to move on.

In the UAE’s dynamic job market, opportunities are abundant for those who value their skills and refuse to settle for less.  

wknd@khaleejtimes.com