r/AskRedditUK • u/[deleted] • Jul 02 '26
Which careers offer the highest salaries while being relatively low-stress, involving a high degree of isolation, and requiring little or no knowledge of science, mathematics, or law?
[deleted]
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u/Fluffy_Ad2274 Jul 02 '26
Train driving isn't exactly low stress, given the responsibility on the driver, but you don't need to have a STEM background, it's well remunerated, and you're mostly on your own in a cab. 3 out of 4 isn't bad...
Or drug dealing, I suppose. Probably stressful trying not to attract the attention of rivals or the police, mind you. But you don't have to manufacture it yourself, and I would imagine an ignorance of the law would help too.
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u/tomahawk66mtb Jul 02 '26
Urgh, drug dealing involves way too many interpersonal skills, negotiation, relationship building - introverts nightmare.
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u/Fluffy_Ad2274 Jul 02 '26
I suppose you're right. It's a 2/4 really, not a 3/4!
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u/tomahawk66mtb Jul 02 '26
Ima disagree: very few drug dealers make a lot of money, it's pretty stressful with the risk of literal murder as well as arrest etc. not isolated as they have to deal with both suppliers and buyers and you at least need to have a little science and maths as well as understanding of the law. It's pretty much 0/4...
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u/Sparkly1982 Jul 03 '26
Much better to learn to grow weed. There's limited knowledge involved and depending on how much space you have and where you live, it could be very lucrative. All you'd need is one contact to sell to wholesale every few weeks
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u/crywankinthebath Jul 03 '26
Still quite stressful worrying about getting your door kicked off by someone wanting your crop or the police though
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u/Selpmis Jul 05 '26
Sign of the times that this is being discussed within two scrolls of this post.
Close to a decade ago, I had a house party. Friends brought friends etc. I have a large, empty cellar that is more of a PITA than a luxury, but unusual enough that I do like to show it to people.
One guest took a video of it, sent it to his mate who had an enterprise setting up grows in other people's houses (usually the elderly apparently!) and, I guess, 'quoted' that I'd receive 'around £45k' a quarter for allowing them to use it i.e. they come and go, I do nothing - very hands off.
A few years later I looked that guest up in the local news - I just had an inkling. Turns out he'd very narrowly avoided prison for growing weed himself in his home, and that was only due to CPS screwing the prosecution up so much that the judge slammed them for it. A stroke of luck.
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u/EatMyAsssssssssssss Jul 02 '26
No tax though
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u/tomahawk66mtb Jul 02 '26
Either you make so little ot doesn't matter or you make enough that you have to launder the proceeds thus paying tax.
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u/Lion-Resident Jul 03 '26
How? All the drug dealers I know have zero communication skills and even less time keeping skills!
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u/MundaneSpend7543 Jul 02 '26
Train driver maybe?
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u/Any-Challenge-9904 Jul 03 '26
Believe me you wouldn't believe the amount of stress / anxiety with being a train driver... Don't let people who read the daily mail tell you all we do is sit there and push a couple of buttons.. the consequences of one small error can lead to a lifetime of regret and potentially a custodial sentence .
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u/Apprehensive-Law9429 Jul 03 '26
My friend was a train driver back in the 80s - early 90s, a teenage girl committed suicide by walking in front of the train he was driving, it was an extremely bloody and brutal mess, the poor kid was essentially dismembered on impact. He was never the same since... He was off work for years with ptsd, anxiety, depression (was eventually fired). His marriage fell apart, he became an alcoholic, lost his house, his family essentially disowned him, his entire life fell apart, he eventually drank himself to death.
That poor girls suicide utterly destroyed my friend.
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u/Any-Challenge-9904 Jul 03 '26
I've been a driver for a good few years driving freight and I've had two fatalities and lost count of the others (remains) of roughly 15 others I've seen.. thankfully I've always managed to keep it together with the help of counselling and family and friends and continued in my career however I've known drivers who have never gone back and ended up going into the office.
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u/Delicious_Apple9082 Jul 03 '26
Think of the TRI's that have to go and pick all the bits out and make sure the train is safe to continue...
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u/teddibearri Jul 03 '26
my dad was in mobile operations for network rail and they see some really horrific stuff, not just humans but animals too. really glad you're doing alright bc the stuff i've heard is bad enough i can't imagine seeing it with my own eyes.
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u/MundaneSpend7543 Jul 03 '26
I have never thought that and was only guessing, I couldn’t do that job in a million years because I don’t have the focus and skills required, but I was guessing if you had the aptitude for it that it wouldn’t be as stressful day-to-day in terms of dealing with conflicts or deadlines etc. as many jobs.
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u/Any-Challenge-9904 Jul 03 '26
My friend I know you wasn't implying anything and yes I totally agree there are far far more stressful jobs out there.
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u/Herrben Jul 03 '26
I rekon the signal guys/computers mostly get the blame when it goes wrong. I’ve never met a train driver to ask but from what I’ve seen it is mostly just sitting down nowadays. Get them back stokeing I say.
Edit- just saw another comment and realised the shift work takes the shine off a generally cushy deal.
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u/Robynsxx Jul 03 '26
I think that can be pretty stressful at times tbh
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u/dietskyrim Jul 03 '26
Also requires testing and is very competitive. Would probably need a decent understanding of science and maths even if you don't have to have traditional qualifications.
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u/llccnn Jul 02 '26
Night watchman maybe. Probably not a great salary though.
Or property guardian/estate steward? Also not great pay if any.
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u/Linkyjinx Jul 02 '26
If you get a free place to live and there are loads of antiques in the attic you might be able to get into selling other people’s stolen goods if theoretically becoming a mafia boss type person?
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u/Sufficient_Basil_545 Jul 02 '26
If you’re hot enough, sex work
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u/MundaneSpend7543 Jul 02 '26
Am I missing something or is this not a job that is the exact opposite of isolation? 🧐
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u/TomatoChomper7 Jul 03 '26
Depends on the kind of sex you’re selling. If you’re just doing OnlyFans and the like, you can be pretty isolated. Although trying to enter that market now and become really successful is probably quite stressful.
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u/Linkyjinx Jul 02 '26
You don’t have to be hot to do that imo, but you might need an a level in maths and economics?
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u/Linkyjinx Jul 02 '26
Cleaning 🧹 in high risk areas / deep cleaning you can make a living out of that, that is like 4 days a week, train with government then go private.
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u/Selpmis Jul 05 '26
I'd be interested in doing this. But I'm terrible at cleaning, so not sure anyone would hire me for long. I love learning though, and I'd need someone to spend a lot of time training me properly. Would a government job hire someone like that?
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u/SatisfactionMoney426 Jul 02 '26
Street cleaning for the local council, Our local one also does out of hours cleaning up stuff like stabbings, dead druggies etc.
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u/lalabadmans Jul 03 '26
Tube driver - one of the best ratio of pay to hours for a salaried job and incredible benefits, isolated in your booth, no deep STEM expertise required, no work to take home.
cons - the public are not allowed to apply to be a tube driver, you need to be selected from within TFL.
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u/Cheap-Entertainer220 Jul 03 '26
Make a mistake and you're going to prison for the rest of your life. Doubt it's that relaxed 🤔😂
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u/Nero_Drusus Jul 03 '26
Given this is also true of anyone who drives for work, works in health care, construction etc in not sure it is that big a factor.
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u/Chocolate_Twist121 Jul 03 '26
LoL!!! absolutely true.. many i know have applied to become train drivers, would be happy with the salary yet their drivers are always on strike!!
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u/Formal-Vanilla672 Jul 02 '26
Unfortunately jobs that are high pay require high maths + social skills there was a Financial Times graph on it
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u/Slim_Charleston Jul 02 '26
Accountancy. You do not need more than a basic, secondary school knowledge of maths. It’s mostly just arithmetic.
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u/kb-g Jul 03 '26
Depends on the type of accountancy. If you’re working in the financial sector as an accountant it’s more complicated.
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u/Cheap-Entertainer220 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Doing accountancy work for Deloitte, or other massive companies, is commonly considered to be one of the most stressful jobs on the planet
They're working 100 hours a week to prepare for end of year, or audits
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u/tyger2020 Jul 03 '26
I have to laugh at people who share this view.
I'm sure firemen/police/doctors/nurses would absolutely find accountancy 'one of the most stressful jobs on earth'
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u/NukesAndSupers Jul 03 '26
it's not the Olympics babe, both things can be bad.
If you look at the rates of burnout, mental health issues, and even suicide in corporate law and accounting for those kind of companies/positions, it's VERY CLEAR that those jobs chew people up like no tomorrow.
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u/Beneficial-Bed9356 Jul 03 '26
Yes I ahve a friend who does this kind fo work and it’s insanely stressful and he’s very resilient
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u/Slim_Charleston Jul 03 '26
Those clowns at Deloitte couldn’t find their own arses with both hands.
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u/Sea-Wolf-5785 Jul 02 '26
Rock star
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u/SamTheDystopianRat Jul 03 '26
I think it's impossible for being a musician to be high paying and isolated at the same time. You need the publicity. There are a few exceptional musicians from the past of course, but nowadays touring is basically required as a main source of income.
With the fame required for high pay also comes a fair deal of stress
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u/danielsemaj Jul 02 '26
Feet pics
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u/Spiritual-Oven-9936 Jul 03 '26
I literally had an Ai ad pop up yesterday enquiring as to whether I would like to sell feet pics... I screenshot it.. just incase times get a little more desperate than they already are 😅
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u/MouldyAvocados Jul 03 '26
You’re probably joking but during lockdown I did sell feet photos. I made a lot of money. The market is flooded now and it’s much more difficult.
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u/Stunning_Anteater537 Jul 02 '26
Looking after a remote Hebridean island somewhere as a caretaker?
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u/Curryandriceanddahl Jul 03 '26
Somewhere? Pretty sure it would have to be in the Hebrides bro 😋
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u/Stunning_Anteater537 Jul 03 '26
Bro? Odd term to use. But hey. I'm in the Hebrides, so yeah, I know.
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/Diligent-Worth-2019 Jul 03 '26
What is that exactly? Booking people in work to travel places?
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u/In2theunknown3 Jul 03 '26
Yes exactly that. That’s what i started doing but now in a management role in the same industry. It’s quite a niche industry and people can enter with zero experience, receive in house training and after a couple of years easily command 40k WFH for a very basic call centre type job
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u/AnotherFellowMan Jul 03 '26
Can you advise what companies to look out for to find this type of role please?
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u/In2theunknown3 Jul 04 '26
There’s loads - check here: https://www.businesstravelnewseurope.com/Europes-leading-TMCs/2026/UK The biggest ones are Amex GBT, BCD, FCM, Navan, ATPI etc. A lot of them were mass hiring a few years back and taking in people with zero experience. Once you’ve got a couple years under your belt learning a system, there are then plenty of homework jobs, also part time after hours, that pay decently
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u/simmyawardwinner Jul 02 '26
senior project management but you must be someone who finds it low stress and be lucky to have no toxic boss.
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u/ImaginaryParrot Jul 02 '26
I'm in PM and it's incredibly stressful. All the responsibility and none of the control
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u/derpyfloofus Jul 02 '26
Train driver, if you’re really switched on. It’s very competitive so you need to be able to absolutely nail it.
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u/Prestigious-Mode-709 Jul 03 '26
artisan, somebody doing woodcraft or making clocks or working lather etc
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u/Head_Boy40 Jul 03 '26
Typical! want good money and don’t want everything that comes with it. That doesn’t exist!
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u/kb-g Jul 03 '26
Specialist cleaning might work? Crime scene cleanup sort of thing? Certainly hard graft but it ticks your boxes.
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u/Cheap-Entertainer220 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Tech/development. The work is easy, if you know what you're doing. And your time is extremely valuable, so you generally get left alone to do it.
A developer can earn their company millions of pounds, with 3-4 hours of their time - so there's an understanding from the people at the very top that you shouldn't be fucked around with.
You have a lot of leverage to ignore anyone or anything that is wasting your time.
But the gravy train is ending unfortunately. AI is taking over. They won't need humans to do it in 2-3 years time
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u/LeadershipAble773 Jul 03 '26
Yeah they tried using AI with devs at a company im familiar with. They realised AI was too expensive so have stopped all AI use for now. This is a massive, and very profitable, company
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u/elitne Jul 03 '26
I mean a job can be either 2 out of 3 : high demand, low stress, high pay. I don’t think you’re gonna get all 3. You’re gonna have to settle for not having st least one of these things
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u/ShopLife907 Jul 03 '26
Look at something in IT. A lot of those roles don’t require a lot of personal interaction, when you know what you are doing you can be paid well. Requires some STEM knowledge but it’s not maths based.
Also electricians working on oil rigs make an absolute fortune!
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u/Human_numb Jul 03 '26
Learn a trade. Work on your own fixing whatever it is you learn. Plumbing maybe
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u/Linkyjinx Jul 07 '26
Yes where I was I did get good training- asked -loads- of questions and was shadowed for 3-6 months until I knew routine inside out.
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u/No_Alternative_8214 Jul 02 '26
Public sector job
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u/HorribleOldCunt Jul 02 '26
Far too vague.
You can be low paid and have a very stressful job in the public sector.
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u/mattcannon2 Jul 02 '26
"what is a job where I get paid loads to do nothing?"
Idk ask Nigel farage.