This sounds like a job a friend has in city government (in the midwest US). They have to look busy but in the end it sounds like they really don’t do a whole lot (he’s the manager and knows they don’t have much to do but has to maintain head count).
The hilarity is when you realize that with all this inefficiency government still often does a better job that smaller government or private enterprise.
The same thing happens at private enterprise because free market incentives don't apply internally; i.e. if I double my productivity it won't actually affect my income at all.
