[andmikey]

My first job out of college was like this. My manager knew I had no work and had no particular interest in letting me take on anything I proposed or found. I ended up quitting a few months in because (on top of a few other issues) I found it way too soul-destroying to have nothing to do.

[tmpz22]

This is because it takes work to make work. There's planning, and scoping, and cross-functional coordination, and, and, and.

From that angle its easy to understand why a manager would like to do little, as long as their manager has a similar relationship with them.