Salary, job and stress levels

[Goforththenorth]

What’s your salary, role, and stress levels (or work life balance)?

I earn £42k per year, I’m a civil servant. My stress levels are low, although I find the culture and pace frustrating at times. I have a good work/life balance as I WFH.

Self-employed. Tend to make profit of around £50k. Currently fairly bored and considering a career change to a less well-paid but more interesting and potentially stressful career for the last 10 years of my working life - once we’re past the worst of the mortgage.

Previous job: £23k, about 50 hours, extremely stressful managing team of about 50 part time staff and 100 volunteers.
New job: £30k, 35 hours, stressful about 1 week a month and 1 month out of the year, then a doss. Absolutely loving the reduction in stress - which is mainly about a change in not dealing with people as I moved from visitor services to finance.

@PaperDoves what kind of accountancy do you do? Did you work in a firm before going SE? (thinking about my own career path)

I earn £80k FTE and my job isn't too stressful. Occasional crunch points but generally very flexible and straightforward. I work in law.

DH earns many multiples of that and his job is even less stressful and more flexible. He works in finance.

Neither of us are particularly stressy people though but we also work in places with really good atmosphere/ethos and family friendly policies.

25 years In Software & IT.
Currently IT cloud customer success, £100k + 20% bonus, 40 hour week, 50/50 on stress, work life balance. Wfh majority of time, flexibility and perks (health & dental), travel 20% of the time.

Until very recently, salary was £90k + bonus and I was very stressed.

I start a new job in a week earning half that and doing something that should be a lot more rewarding and give me a better work/life balance. Fingers crossed!

About £250k in a Global Head role and very high stress levels. I like the work itself but the politics and frankly incompetence of the c-suite is exhausting me. Not sure it's worth it.

I don't work very late but have to travel internationally which eats into weekends. Can never switch off completely

Probation Service Officer. £27k. Stressful. Managing trauma and risk on a daily basis. Never enough time and terrible pay. Often take it home!

20k, for three (short, flexible) days a week in an interesting but low stress job.

My career has really taken off in the past five years and I’m now on £150k in a role that’s just getting increasingly stressful.

Up to now, salary increases were coming as responsibility/stress were growing and it was worth it, but now I think I’ve reached the limit of how much I’m able to do- you could give me another million and there’s still nothing left in the tank.

Yesterday, for example, I logged-on at 5.30am, took a fifteen minute lunch break, then stopped at 6.30pm. Then got a call about an urgent matter so had to fire up the laptop again at 8.30pm until just after 11.
While that’s not typical, it’s not as rare as it used to be.

North of £300k. Full time - often 24/7. Three people kind of report to me. I am responsible for very high values and it is very stressful. I feel I am paid enough for the stress but also feel underpaid - suspect the men around me are earning more but I let myself down in negotiating salary

I earn £43k for 4 days a week (53k FTE) as a Tax Adviser for a law firm. I work pretty much full time remote - go in to the office about once a month. I work autonomously and rarely have to work beyond by normal 9-5. Before this I worked for a big 4 accountancy firm and was majorly stressed. I have a really good work-life balance now, albeit earning slightly less money than I was. A lot of responsibility and the job is challenging, but I enjoy the work and rarely feel stressed.

DH has just taken early retirement due to stress and pressures. He just can't do it any more £42k. He does have plans though to do other things.

I currently earn approx £21-22k. Lowest paid job I've ever done and the worst in terms of stress due to pressure, rudeness and disrespect from many end users. Awful.

£28k
Public servant
Stress levels vary with our leadership team's whims - currently fine but I had a week signed off earlier this year when a major project was being very badly managed, and spent a good six months feeling miserable. I will never let it get to that point ever again.

65k, wfh 3 days a week. Busy, client-facing role, but not stressed. That being said my perceived stress is very low and do a lot to manage stress.

Min wage plus commission 40hr week
Stressful as in it's dealing with the public so a lot of being sworn at or yelled at but it's not a tricky job mentally
I take about 130 calls a day so my voice goes every so often

£32k, reporter, medium stress. Lots of legal, lots of ethical, lots of pressure. Fuck all pay.

But when I clock off I'm done. No outside hours

@AnotherOneGone hope you don't mind me asking, but can you recommend any sites for contractor vacancies?

Previously:
£30k-40k Business owner. Extremely high stress. Took work home all the time. Worked 6 days a week.

£10.30/hour 121 TA, high stress sometimes, risk of injury. I still miss the fantastic child I worked with. School holidays off which is great.

Currently:
£10.30/hour class TA, stress varies as to class. Very satisfying job though. School holidays off.

Unfortunately, I could earn a lot more per hour packing fruit!

@AcclimDD @FoodFann I know, right! It's like Britain's worst kept secret - I've heard there are a few vacancies though, if anyone fancies retraining, just don't tell your friends! 🙂

To be clear - my underpaid comment was about the gender pay gap and not comparing to any other salaries. I appreciate that I am well paid.

28.5k/30k with bonus in Financial Crime, contracted 35 hours a week but WFH I end up doing about 40+ unpaid. Moderate stress levels - mostly due to the fact I can't really afford to own a home but I can be stretching myself thin single handily day and night stop someone losing their 1million to fraud. That being said though the job satisfaction in terms of doing the right thing is good, and I genuinely feel like I am doing something meaningful.

£42,250 in accountancy (tax). I hate it - very very stressful but it’s mostly to do with my current firm which I am trying to leave! I work a lot more hours per week than 35.

£70k in the civil service. Can be pressured but not crazily so. WFH 3 days a week. It’s a great balance. I previously earned more in the private sector but the stress and hours were higher.