Why does everyone say that the civil service is low-paid?

[YourPoisedFinch]

friend in big 4 audit-- 32k to 50k in 3 years
friend in civil service, as a statistician --- 33k to 55k in 3 years on fast stream

Public sector jobs for graduates eg civil service fast stream start off fairly comparable to the private sector however wages do not increase at the same rate and top out at far lower levels.

My dc is mod and currently earns similarly to colleagues in the private sector on the same project (so easy to compare) but they have bonuses whereas mod has a better pension and some other perks. Most do jump ship and go into the private sector because of the effective salary cap

I've done the same IT role in public and private sectors. My pay is significantly better in the private sector, with other perks as well.

My partner is a deputy director in civil service. He's on 85k. His budget is literally billions. In a private company his equivalent salary would be at least 150k up to around 250k. But he sees it as a vocation instead of being for the money..

I've worked for civil service for 10yrs. Most yrs I had zero, yes zero or lower than 1% pay rise.

Generally speaking the roles are usually less than market equivalent but not always. Sometimes I'm surprised at some salaries for some roles but again managers in some teams on less than £30k.

I had a very gd pay rise about a year ago and decent again this yr so my salary has gone up 12-13%. It's probably currently around the market rate. I'll probably go bk to years of no pay rises now. However u get really gd holiday allowance, flexi time, work from home mainly and very gd pension contributions. My manager is also very flexible with me.

I could def get more money elsewhere but it's a very family friendly place and I'm part time so staying until kids at high school.

A few years ago on a course with senior staff from both the private sector and the Civil Service we compared salaries. Overall the private sector staff were on twice the salary of the CS staff. It's not surprising the CS recruitment is poor.

In 10-15 years the one in Big 4 Audit could easily be on £200k plus.

The one in civil service will have hit an absolute ceiling of £120k, and that’s if they were very, very lucky.

Really depends on the role, department, specialism. I'm a G6 in London on £75k with allowance, I'm very happy with my package, unlike many G6 roles I don't have any line management responsibility, work load is completely manageable so on top of the pension, flexibility, interesting work and WFH it would be really hard to replicate what I have elsewhere.

But I've spent time in other roles in the CS where I considered myself as vastly underpaid for those particular roles. My current role is more of an exception than the rule I think.

May I ask what his hours are like, and work/life balance? My son is interested in this as a career.

A friend got a job in the civil service a year ago. She had not realised how senior her role was until starting because of the pay.

so what is a good route for my skillset? msc economics, bsc economics, 2 years in finance

Something that doesn't require basic punctuation skills.

Lower grades in the civil service are on NMW, and there are far more staff in those lower grades. We lose staff to supermarkets etc because they pay more.

I think from your last thread you were fired from big 4 and want to go somewhere they can’t fire you. Which is fair, but the civil service pays significantly less on average than the big 4. And the progression is limited in civil service,

it doesn’t compare op and I think you know this, but it doesn’t need to for you.

What is a g7? A manager, a head of department? Needs some context.

Just googled and it said G7s are responsible for setting priorities, agreeing targets and allocating responsibilities to their team. They develop deep specialisms on key aspects of their policy or sector, and take on highly complex work. The key grade is Grade 7, and Grade 7s are expected to know all there is to know about their policy area, and to know all the key players, pressure groups and so on.

Ah I recognise this op, her earlier thread had a requirement for glamour which I have never equated with the civil service although suppose James Bond was a civil servant.

so what is a good route for my skillset? msc economics, bsc economics, 2 years in finance

How on earth would anyone know what your skillset is? You haven't had a job long enough to have really developed any skills yet. You should have a much better idea of what you're good at.

Sort out your MH, get some careers advice from your uni and work out what you're good at and what sort of career you want.

Blindly posting stuff on MN about how well paid the CS is (it isn't though the FS is a good career start if you know what scheme you want to develop in), or how do people in their 20s have money for travel and socialising or other random stuff isn't helpful to you.

Honestly, I would assume someone with the skills to make it all the way through the fast track would also have the skills/savvy to be earning £100k+ after a few years in a similarly competitive private company.

Everyone has different skills/experience and capacity. I was on your other thread as well, and as gently as possible you need to look at your MH first and foremost. Just because some people make it through a highly competitive program and make a high salary doesn't mean everyone has it in them. If you burnt out/were managed out of your old role, I'd seriously reconsider the whole fast track thing. Maybe find a job you want to be doing and then look at building your career from there, at your own pace. You're doing amazingly already to be wanting to progress so much with the history you have, but you need to take on work that doesn't overwhelm you or you'll be back in the same place you were before!

For the last 10 years he has had his own business, so he does a lot of hours but for his own benefit. It is a great career though with plenty of opportunities to do different areas, such as rating, quantity surveying etc. RICs membership is recognised worldwide.

Because if you did the same level responsibilities/ work in the private sector you'd get paid loads more...

Not everyone on the fast streams goes straight into grade 7 afterwards. Lots go into the grade below which pays less. Most people in the civil service haven’t gone through the fast stream, it’s very hard to get onto, and they take longer to get to the higher grades. It’s often quite hard to be promoted in the civil service and to get actual pay rises, not just cost of living rises. The equivalent roles in the private sector are usually higher paid.

Two years experience? I’d be applying to graduate schemes and trying to get into a good private sector company that has progression for those that work hard.

This!

AO Were receiving NMW for a while. Same as AAs.

Used to be pay progression by nowadays AOs with 30 years service get same as new entrant. Shocking.

So glad I got out.

DH is a statistician, retired but still working as a consultant in the private sector. To earn £55k a year, he’d only have to work about 11 hours a week.

Because it's crap compared to the private sector.

My private sector salary is £120k (not london). Considered civil service for better work/life balance - they couldn't offer me more than £70k.