An administrative employee in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has sent a mass email to colleagues on the day he retired, revealing how he had nothing to do for the past 14 years, Die Welt reports.

"Since 1998, I was only present but not really there. So I'm going to be well prepared to retire" his farewell email explained, before revealing that during that time he had been paid €745,000 (around $975,000) by the city of Minden.

He blamed a parallel structure for depriving him of work, but the mayor of Minden told journalists that he was in a “considerable pinch of rage” when he saw the letter, the Local reports.

The retiree was apparently unprepared for the amount of attention the letter has received in the German press.

“I do not wish to say anything else,” he told his local paper. “That email was not intended for public view.”