expression
all pain and no gain; lots of effort, little reward
Proverb-like expression meaning that despite great effort, the results are meager. Often used to lament an inefficient or thankless task.
この仕事は労多くして功少なしだ。
This job is all pain and no gain.
労多くして功少なしのプロジェクトだった。
It was a project with lots of effort and little reward.
Similar meaning: 'all that effort for nothing'. More colloquial and vivid, literally 'losing the effort and gaining only fatigue'.
A classical Chinese-derived expression (労多くして功少なし) that entered Japanese as a set phrase. The exact historical origin is uncertain, but it follows a common pattern of contrasting effort (労) and result (功).