<prompt> Human: Long story short - Im miserable at my job, but I have been here a long time and have been a good, productive employee. My job has essentially ended more on that below, but rather than lay me off I keep getting busy work dumped on my lap. How do I approach my boss and explain to him that I would rather be laid off than continue on in this cycle?My job began following a disaster a few years back and Ive been working the claims settlement process surrounding the incident for almost 4 years now. The settlement is essentially over now, which not only means that my workload is down to near zero, but that the bonuses which have made my measly salary tolerable will no longer be coming. Im stuck behind a desk 40 hours a week and my actual work takes maybe 5 hours a week. This has got me crawling up the walls, you can only reddit for so many hours a day! Every time I mention something to my boss about not having any work, he will dump some terrible busy work project on me, like data entry, cleaning out his email inbox, renaming files on our server, etc. which is quite miserable.I have been thinking of quitting for months now, but I dont want to give up my chance at a severance, which I think I deserve, or the chance to collect unemployment. I do not want to work in a similar field after this, riding a desk is not for me. I plan to get into something different and will need to get training, certifications, etc. before I can make the transition - which is why I will need severance or unemployment to keep me afloat until I can fully transition.How do I go about this conversation with my boss? He will be better off not paying me to sit around and twiddle my thumbs for the foreseeable future, but Im not sure how to bring it up tactfully. Any advise is appreciated!  <response>: Have you been looking for another job? This seems like its really on you to get yourself in a better position, I dont think your employer will be amenable to sponsoring your voluntary termination. 