An investigation has been launched after a Wellington Water employee boasted on social media she spends her work days lounging on the couch, catching up with friends and going to the movies.

The now-deleted clip, titled “Council Engineer - Challenge one day slacking off and do no work. Making money while I play” has left people outraged as Wellington faces a major water crisis.

In the video, which was on Chinese social media site Xiaohongshu, the graduate engineer records her day of work, where she boasts about completing no tasks.

“I wanted to continue slacking off at home, but my partner is worried my company might fire me so he took me to work,” the woman said in the clip.

A Wellington Water employee is being investigated after posting on social media about slacking off. Photo / Supplied

“Actually today is the third working day but having just returned from South Island I’ve been tired so worked from home “half lying down”, which actually is doing nothing.”

The young professional explains she finished “all her work” before Christmas was finished so it seemed she had nothing to do.

“Usually the best way to slack off at work is to stare at the screen and sigh,” she said.

She said she left work at 11.40am after completing two hours of her work day, partially taken up by meeting with a friend for coffee, before leaving because “the weather looked good outside”.

The engineer spends the rest of her workday going to the gym, cinema and car wash.

“I’m probably the type of employee Chinese bosses describe as those that don’t find work for themselves,” she said.

“I will never feel apologetic in the slightest sense for having nothing to do at work.”

She also replied to those criticising her, commenting “hope 2024 stays the same, don’t have to do any work and keep getting salary yay”.

This comes as residents in Wellington queued for hours yesterday to get their hands on large storage tanks amid a worsening water shortage in the capital, which could see water restrictions tightened further.

A Wellington Water spokesperson confirmed she was an employee of the organisation.

“We are now undertaking an internal staff investigation with this employee as part of the organisation’s code of conduct principles,” the spokesperson said.

“This video is not representative of Wellington Water staff, who are a dedicated team focused on providing water services to our communities 24/7.”

Wellington Water is owned and fully funded by the Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington City Councils.

The engineer has been approached for comment.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.