In grade school we used to call this "busy work". As in, work given to you so that you would look busy, even though it served no functional purpose whatsoever.

In grade school we used to call this "busy work". As in, work given to you so that you would look busy, even though it served no functional purpose whatsoever. I was surprised and dismayed to realize that corporate life was more of the same (and hence I no longer participate in corporate life and work for myself).