To ask if you earn £50K+ what do you do?

[Poppi89]

I have seen a lot of posts on here where people say how much they earn and I am shocked how many people earn over £50K, so I was just wondering what it is that you do?

Also, do you think it is more important to have a high income or a job that you enjoy?

I've been attending a few executive board discussions amongst VP and C level and we all think the carona situation will permanently change the way companies adopt flexible working and remote working. We're not saying it's going to be adopted overnight but the survival, profitability of a company depends how quickly it can adapt in emergency situations like this. I think in it's a massive wake-up call and the psyche of many companies to flexible / remote working will change for the better.

@CookieDoughKid that's what's happening in our board meetings too.

They have come to realise we can streamline outgoings AND work from home effectively. Head office has 300 people and desks for people who are field based, which are empty the majority if the time. We have 20 smaller offices around the country. They have looked at the figures and know theres substantial savings to be made.

@OhTheRoses I think you have a point. I was one of those people who shone at school and university (not in popularity terms but top of the class in most subjects, good at sport, art, writing essays, always praised by teachers and tutors).
Work on the other hand is a bit...meh. I have a decent enough job, I'm good at it and earn an average salary for the Uk. But I don't think I'll ever be a high earner or one of those ultra career driven people who gets to be at the top.
I loved learning at school and getting my head down to read books/revise but can't muster up the same enthusiasm for doing tasks to make money for a company. I also dislike being in an office and the whole culture that does with that, the politics and the expectation to suck up to bosses, negotiate for my salary (cringe) and network (mega cringe).
At school/uni my work spoke for itself and my success depended on myself only, at work there's an element of how you're perceived as well as being good at the job that influences how successful you'll be...so you're at the mercy of other people deeming you good enough to hire/promote.
I also think workplace culture as a whole disadvantages introverts, we're often not seen as not being a "good fit" for higher up jobs.
I've accepted it now and am thankful I have a good work-life balance, so I have plenty of time for my interests outside of work, which I find a lot more fulfilling.

Teacher.

I know this thread is probably long closed but just wanted to offer the alternative side to the 50k+ wishlist. I earn £29k, work for a leading charity training dogs, people and providing mobility for visually impaired clients. The ceiling for my role is £42k. There are people in my organisation with over 30+yrs experience, they stay A. Because they love the job and the feel good factor and B. They are very skilled at what they do and are appreciated. My dh on the other hand works in the same organisation as part of change process management and can't wait to retire. Do what you love and reap the rewards, (not financially in my case😂) but in so many other ways.

Operations. I work part-time from home and make £52k

I love my work, I’m able to drop/pick the kids up and only work school hours, which I can change if I need to attend an event or other school thing.

I’ve had some horrific jobs in the past, so consider this my reward.

Policy & comms for a pharmaceutical company. I love it. Get bonus, pension, health insurance etc too.

I got a 21k pay rise when I left my last job, which was for a charity. I loved that job too but there was no prospect of ever progressing or earning more. Final straw came when I found out that a useless (male) colleague who started after me and was on the same level was on 10k more. I asked for a raise so we were earning the same, was refused so I found a job in a totally different sector that paid much better

I am in IT and OH is a pilot. We both earn >150k but we don't live in UK.

we are close on nearly 45K

we dont work,we(partner and i)are carers so on carers allowance

both kids get high dla so we get all the other benefits that goes with it

Digital person in a pharmaceutical company. £80k at 28.
DH is a SAHD so that I could focus on my career but we decided I had more earning potential. Love the job and really like what I do.

@AHobbyaweek

Digital person in a pharmaceutical company. £80k at 28. DH is a SAHD so that I could focus on my career but we decided I had more earning potential. Love the job and really like what I do.

When you say ‘digital person’, what do you mean? Can you explain a little bit please? Thanks

I’m a joint Company Director with my DH. We run an IT consultancy business.
We earn between £150-250k per annum.
It’s a huge sacrifice to our family life, being away from one another each and every week is not uncommon.
I would swap it for a quarter of our income to be with one another each and every day if we didn’t have such huge outgoings to cover at the moment.
Maybe things will change in the future .

My husband is an agile delivery manager within the civil service. He likes it enough but we expect him to go freelance in a few years to do the same job for significantly more money

Doctor-NHS Consultant.

Senior Manager in Engineering. I love it. It's flexible hours, I do a Saturday night shift fortnightly by choice, and even before Covid I was working at home 3 days a week. I mostly do project work, so just as I'm getting bored a couple of years in, there's a new project kicking off to make it interesting again.

I think I have the absolute holy grail of jobs

Not in the UK but salary works out at the equivalent of just under £110k + bonus (usually 15-20%) + private healthcare + massive pension.

I work in a non-people facing HR role and absolutely love it. I’m a bit of an introvert so it really suits me.

I work a 35 hour week (but do more, as needed), huge amounts of autonomy, WFH as much as I want, take Friday afternoons off, and just generally love my team and what I do. I think I must burst out laughing at least twice a day thanks to my lovely colleagues.

I’m very senior so there’s a lot of responsibility, and I end up answering to the Board a lot, but learning to take that in my stride.

It’s the best job I ever had. I did have some shitty ones to get to this level, though.

I’m so much less stressed on my £110k job than I was in my first real job, when I was earning about £22k.

@Totickleamockingbird
I now head up the digital marketing department in a small pharma but my last role in the same company as a digital marketing manager was over 50k too

H&S manager working for a UK company but based in Europe. Package in the £80k range with free food, housing and car in country. Flights/Train/Expenses etc all provided.
Hate it. Boring. Will be leaving next year if this current hysteria has blown over.

Information systems director in IT, £80k + pension + bonus.

Love my job, I have a lot of autonomy, spend a lot of time on project work, so very diverse, and work with some very bright, interesting people.

@Mumofapuppa

50k is a lot. As the manager of a preschool room in a nursery I get just below16k before tax. The job comes with a lot of responsibility and stres but isn't recognised or appreciated. Its hard to see people say 50k isn't a lot.

You guys are definitely underpaid! I think COVID would have made most families realize how hard it is to manage without childcare.

Im an nhs radiographer. Top of band 6, my basic is nearly 40k but with my nightshifts/weekends and overtime i earn close to 60k. When i first qualified 25 years ago i started on 12k. Just goes to show how wages go up!

@TownHallDesigner yes you do! Can I ask what was your path there was like, generalist HR or consulting?

I'm very attracted by the HR consulting side, especially with org design and reward, but at my age (40) and with no HR experience at all (aside from recruiting my team), not sure I have the energy to spend the next decade starting over from the bottom.

I am in a niche area of marketing. 100+ package. Fell into it by accident as i've been in this industry for nearly 20 years. I hate the role, company and industry. Totally unsuited for it - surrounded by complete opposite personality types: extroverted people persons.

In answer to your question OP, i work for income. That's just my dry personality though, I'm not interested in people or creative stuff or solving higher order problems (aside from how to get DS1 to do his homework) anyway, so there is no job in the world I'd enjoy aside from a professional sportsperson (definitely no chance). So "a job I enjoy" does not exist for me.

Isn't it the definition of work? The opposite of work is leisure or retirement.

Teacher.

Semi enjoy my job but I understand it's probably the best paid job in terms of holidays and working around family

Can I ask what was your path there was like, generalist HR or consulting?

I'm very attracted by the HR consulting side, especially with org design and reward, but at my age (40) and with no HR experience at all (aside from recruiting my team), not sure I have the energy to spend the next decade starting over from the bottom

@MissMuscle I came up through the data side. My education was in Business and IT. I ended up doing some temping jobs that were either data analytics or system training, increasingly on HR systems. I then took a punt when I spent 6 weeks with a start-up supporting the implementation of a new IS. I loved them and they wanted me to stay on so, when a HR Business Partner role came up, I interviewed and got it. That work was predominantly people-facing which was enjoyable (I’m an introvert but loved building relationships with people who came in early doors like I did) but I got to focus on org design and data analytics. The company also paid for me to do a HR degree by night, then I did a diploma in Org Design. I’ve also gained a number of additional data qualifications along the way.
A few years ago I moved into Org Design full time and started taking on bigger and bigger projects that most people wouldn’t get access to- I was just exceptionally lucky that the start-up I joined was a success (it’s a household name now) and I was able to progress as the company needed more skills.
I was also fortunate to be able to take advantage of very generous professional development budgets and became a Chartered CIPD member.

As the projects I was managing got bigger, I focused on Project Management and Change Management qualifications. I’m now managing huge transformation programmes.

I absolutely love it but I don’t think my path is typical. Most people I know went degree - grad role - HR admin - HRBP - specialism.

Teacher. Been doing it for 26 years love it. Just over £50k - secondary English Teacher.