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

Nope.

I’m a G7 in London and am on over £70K. It depends on the department, London salaries and where you are on the pay scale. My current job is dull and undemanding but I’ve had some great jobs in the past, including overseas. I’ve just handed in my notice and am moving to work for an NGO.

Civil service pay has very much not kept up with inflation. They are paid significantly less than 15 years ago.

"Compared to 2010, civil servants’ median salaries at each grade have reduced in real terms between 11% at the most junior levels and 22% at the most senior. This particularly worsened in 2022-23 due to high rates of inflation.'

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/civil-service-pay

I think it depends which area of civil service as it's all different. Mine is well paid once you get past the bottom 2 levels, yes I could be paid more in industry but I like the other benefits of civil service. Annual pay rises, annual bonuses

What if we put pension prospects into the mix?

All the public sector people I know have generous Defined Benefit pensions that enable them to retire at 60 (latest) with a big additional lump sum payable on retirement.

To be a G7 grade, you probably have the skills to be on £100k+ in private sector.

Factoring in pensions, job security, often have remote/hybrid options etc I think it's a fair deal for civil service but it's obviously less well paid

I’m a SEO in London and my £45k salary would be double that in the private sector.

In our department of approx 200 people we have 1 G7, 3 SEO’s and 5 HEO’s. Everyone else is EO or AO. So about 90% of the department is paid less than £29k a year.

In private practice a lawyer of my level can get £250k plus a very significant bonus. A lawyer in the civil service would be lucky to get £80k. Yes they have a defined benefit pension; but that nowhere near makes up for it the difference particularly as you lose things like private health insurance.

@Atina321 department? A G7 is ultimately responsible for 200 people?

They must have been in the Civil Service a very long time for that! The pension scheme is generous but very few remain in defined benefits schemes.

Yep.

@Wibblywobblybobbly lawyers are one of the professions I look on at bemusement, as a G6 I am the same grade as a senior lawyer in the CS, and more senior (thus better paid) than many of the other lawyers I've worked with, I'm amazed the civil service retains them given the level of work taken to get to be a qualified lawyer. That said, the lawyers I work with tend to be financially comfortable in a way that is not reliant on their salary, be that due to wealthy partners or what I can only assume is wealth from family.

All absolutely lovely I feel compelled to say, I suspect they enjoy the work, it's certainly varied and interesting.

They are still defined benefit schemes, just not final salary

@Atina321 wow! That's crazy. I've worked in a small org where G6s were deputy directors, but your G7 is no doubt massively underpaid!

Some of us use it as a form of early retirement. When I've cleared my mortgage and set aside hefty savings i plan to ditch my 50/60 plus hours job for a nice 9 to 5 public sector job with flexi time., maybe working 4 days a week. As you say, the work is interesting so I'll be happy to do it when I don't need the higher salary.

Our G6 is responsible for approximately 400 people.

Comparing a fast streamer (which is a small percentage of civil servants and a competitive rapid progression scheme) isn't really a useful or fair comparison, is it? Reality is that lots of professionals could get paid more in industry, and lots of people get stuck at lower grades for a long time.

Our G6 is responsible for approximately 400 people.

And this is why I feel very jammy on my £75k with no line management responsibility 😂 managing great people is great, but a lot of people...not great.

I don't know where you live but 55k (in London) really isn't something to do cartwheels over

Fast stream is exceptional though and from then on it might stall whereas big 4 has more earning potential once qualified

I think it's perceived that the pension is good - they pay in 27% which is pretty good.

www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/civil-service-employee-benefits/

Also annual leave doesn't seem too bad - 30 days plus bank holidays is 8ish weeks a year. Also flexible working seems common.

So I think it's the additional perks that make it sound more attractive than it actually is.

Private companies would never pay 27% into a pension scheme & annual leave doesn't generally increase. I think it's only some roles which would command higher salaries elsewhere. Maybe IT/law/cyber security/finance type roles.

The CS pension is defined benefit but it's been career average for ages, not final salary.

If you take it at 60 though you lose a significant amount - it's tied to state pension age which is 68 and only going up.

I can retire at 60 on a pension of around £32K, and with a tax free lump sum of around £85K.

And progressing from grade 7 can be hard too, I wouldn’t want to still be on £55-£70k now I’m mid 30s.