29.5k earnings who are you and how?!

[AtSea1979]

BBC reports today say the average salary in the UK is £29,500.

I earn 12k but i’m part time (otherwise 18k). I live in the north. I can only dream about earning nearly 30k. I’ve thought about retraining but I wouldn’t know where to start as the job market seems so difficult.

AIBU to think the majority of people earn much less and it’s just the minority fat cats pulled that figure up?

1 footballer earning £300K a week (£15.6m a year), 1040 people earning £14500. so 1041 people and their average salary is £29500. But 99.9% of them are earning below the average.

That is the mean, not the median. I think 29k is the median which is the mid salary if you line them up do is less distorted.

£29500 is the mean. The median is lower. Average always defaults to the mean, unless they specifically say otherwise.

for some jobs you can findo ut the salaries eg NHS consultants and also nurses you can go on the NHS website and look at the pay for the different grades. Some law firms publish their trainee wages - about £40k and newly qualified salaries after that = up to about £100k and for each of the 3 years after but after that it diverges even in those bigger firms. Then you can search law firm partner's likely earnings on line. Also for bigger companies I thikn they are obliged to put the pay of the highest paid director in the annual report. it is certainly easier to find out pay these days due to the internet - search anthying from "super head salary" (I think I saw one of about £200k) to looking on Companies House free and a fair bit of pay data is available. Or just look at what some people are spending or paid for their house - all pretty visible for many as the Land Registry is now transparent.

It's a bit unfortunate that these threads always go into the whole I work hard for my 40k/well I've never worked harder than when I was on NMW argument with people getting offended and defensive. I think threads like this can be useful in helping people know what kind of jobs exist and what kind of salary progression can be expected.

To be fair the jobs that most people have said they do aren't Oh it's a very niche job I can only do in London and I can't say more as it would be outing. There are no I'm a bit of a rockstar in my field type posts here (not even from Xenia ). In fact many of the jobs listed are what lots of people would file under "boring office job" but these pretty ordinary jobs are everywhere. Ordinary people do these jobs and earn these salaries. They gain experience and transferable skills and they can get salary increases by moving jobs and getting promotions. Many people on MN are determined to believe that everyone is either "the elite" or they're living from hand to mouth but that's not actually the case.

A teacher in London on the first pay scale gets about 29.5k. My 3 teacher friends who are somewhere on the UPS & have TRLs of 6-9k get paid about 55k FTE.

38 years working for only 8 years now..
Software consultant 38k. But i feel i should earn at least 45k by now.

Mid-thirties, work in marketing in SE, on about £55k (which is actually very low for my industry + level). DH earns similar working in the construction industry. Both DH and I (and pretty much everyone with whom we work) have degrees (sometimes multiple degrees).

I think it very much depends on your industry / level of qualifications etc. £29.5k is a lot for a retail job but pretty standard for a mid-level / middle management office job that requires a degree. In my industry, £29.5k is a mid-junior salary - what you would expect to be earning with maybe 4-5 years experience. However in my early twenties I worked a series of low-wage jobs and was struggling to earn even £12k per year.

I've read research saying that the biggest stress factor in jobs isn't the level of responsibility it's lack of control.

This. I got a new manager earlier in the year, through a reorg. I am now trusted to just get on with stuff, but he's there when I need support. This is quite a contrast to his predecessor, who was very into micromanaging and expecting us to account for every minute if the day and do report after report. The bulk of my job is unchanged, but the change in culture has meant I am actually more productive, and my GP is very happy that it's showing in my blood pressure readings, which are back in a normal range for the first time in a very long time.

And that's probably as good as getting a financial bonus, so it's also relevant to pay.

Finance tech, in Scotland. On around 100k. Which is a surprise to me as much as anyone else. Several factors in my salary growth over the years, I think:

• Was lucky enough to join a booming field at the right time (technology, around the dot com boom). This wasn't planning, my natural interests just aligned with what was needed by the economy (i.e. software developers).

• Moved company every 3 years on average, getting a bigger lift each time than I ever achieved by being 'loyal'. Willingness to move is a big factor in salary progression, IMO.

The downside - I've effectively out leveled the local market at this point. I'm conscious to live well within my means as a result, as there's a solid chance the next job will pay significantly less.

I think the report said average, like the OP thought.

Actually I think around £25k is the average, or mean, and £29k more likely to be the median, or the mid-point of all salaries taken together.

I earn peanuts in my job (charity sector) but make up to around £29k by other means.

My job is a walk in the park compared with what I used to do (higher ed, 60+hours per week).

A teacher with no additional TLRs etc will earn just above this at M4 (fourth year of teaching).
I was a mature student, had to go to college and university to get into teaching. Best thing I ever did!

College tutor in the North, I earn around that. DH is an engineer, he earns that too.

I was a mature student, had to go to college and university to get into teaching. Best thing I ever did!

Same here.

@EBearhug absolutely, liking/working well with your manager came first in importance for job satisfaction in some employment polls done a couple years ago, above salary. Bad management is crippling, it infuriates me how many bad managers seem to climb the career ladder with ease. It's so simple yet it's unbelievable how many companies ignore leadership/management development, and don't recognise the impact it'll have on their overall outputs.

I work in international HR for a multinational in the South West. I'm on £47.5 k, age 33.

Actually I think around £25k is the average, or mean, and £29k more likely to be the median, or the mid-point of all salaries taken together.

This makes no sense. The mean is going to be higher than the median, not lower. Because no one will earn 15K less for full time due to min wage, but loads of people will earn in excess than £15K more. So the mean is dragged up by high earners.

South East pulls the average wage up a little but really your right the top 5% pulls some and the top 1% is so ridiculous it heaves it up. PT and Zero hours hardly count because they are taken as what would be their earnings if it was FT (a lot of people on a few hours here and there).
Re-training. If you have a niche interest in computing, engineering maybe.

it infuriates me how many bad managers seem to climb the career ladder with ease.

Oh God yes, this.

We are in Scotland if I’d stayed in work rather than become a sahm I’d be on that or more as a professional fundraiser within a charity.

Dh was on that aged 22 working in a lab as he got shift allowance.

it infuriates me how many bad managers seem to climb the career ladder with ease.

People get promoted to get rid of them from a department, because it's too much hard work to get shot of them. It happens a lot.

The ultimate example was Theresa May. Dreadful MP, hopeless backbencher, useless front bencher, appalling home secretary, worthless PM. If there was a job in govt higher than PM, I'm sure she would have got it.

@Lifecraft yes, I think bad managers are often the ones who know how to play the game best as well, how to get in with the seniors etc.

Sorry, yes the median is the middle The mode would be more informative though.

My full time was would be 36,000 or thereabouts. I'm part-time on 25,000.

I've found (same has been true with husband / friends / family) the best way to climb the salary ladder is to be willing to move companies every few years. I realise this massively depends on type of job but we have typical "office jobs" in financial services and in the last 7 years I've moved companies once and been promoted once in each company and salary has gone up 12k in total. My husband however has moved companies 5 times and salary has gone up over 30k in that time.

Arguably we should have been more similar (probably somewhere in the middle of those two numbers) as he has more experience than me but I have a lot more qualifications but moving around coupled with some ballsy negotiation has worked well for him.

I've found (same has been true with husband / friends / family) the best way to climb the salary ladder is to be willing to move companies every few years
Yes same in NHS. So many low paid admin staff complaining they are stuck on band 2/3 after 20 years but they have never applied for any other jobs. The only way for most staff to move up bands is to move to different roles/trusts. With the right motivation you could get from band 2 to band 8 in 20 years (or less) if you’re prepared to keep moving and learning.

With the right motivation you could get from band 2 to band 8 in 20 years (or less) if you’re prepared to keep moving and learning

I managed to move from band 4 to band 7 in four years. Might not sound a lot but I went from £18k to £37k!