Is anyone here a high earner and DOESN’T work stupid hours?

[Llamasally]

If yes, what do you do? How do you avoid working long hours? Are you a high performer /successful/up for promotion?

I’m curious, as so far my experience is that they go unavoidably hand in hand, but I feel this is wrong and you should be rewarded on your achievements, skills, performance- not willingness to give 100% of yourself or to be always ‘on’. When considering promotion opportunities on the horizon I find this the scariest thing tbh. I’m not prepared to give up my life, am I being unrealistic??

By high earner I’m talking six figures - just because that’s how I would personally categorise - not because other salaries are not high enough etc)

I earn £80k + bonus. Not in UK but lived there for 5 years previously (in and near London), and the salaries and cost of living are pretty similar where I am currently.

I'm in a specialist role within marketing, so it's my job to support our actual marketing team within a particular area of expertise. My line manager works 4 days so is really good at helping to manage workload, since she also doesn't want to end up working extra hours.

I work then occasional evening but my boss is happy for me to take back the hours (e.g. start later the next day). There are occasionally busy times when I will work some extra hours, but this is fairly infrequent.

I have 14 years' experience and have been at my current company for a while. In my younger days I certainly put in the hours but now I'm at a point where I can work fairly flexibly and also stick to 40 hours a week max.

Very interesting that most think the increased seniority means more control over hours, delegation etc. My experience (large global corporate) is that it gets worse the higher you go, which has driven this post really.

@mrsmalcolmreynolds

I'm a partner in a niche City law firm. Most of our lawyers earn six figures and we don't flog them - if we see a full time employee regularly clocking more than 50hrs a week we check if they're OK.

Having said that, I do think your ambition of getting to that sort of salary without demonstrating some significant commitment somewhat smacks of entitlement. I don't think that people need to be "always on" but equally thinking you can earn serious money without showing some flexibility and personal investment in the business you work for is unrealistic. It also suggests you may not be that interested in the work that you would be doing to achieve those financial goals, and I think that's a fast track to discontentment.

@mrsmalcolmreynolds no entitlement here and it’s not an ‘ambition’; I earn six figures already and have worked very hard to get there, and still do. I’m interested in whether climbing the ladder has to entail more/continued long hours and being always available to your employer.

Yes. I work half-time and I’m in my mid 40s so my career is well established. So part of the salary is simply growth with career advancement.

I have an advanced degree and a specialized set of skills in a STEM field.

Llama sally

I was able to get to six figures at a reasonable age even after stepping away from the crazed consulting track I was on and switching to working for a non-profit. It did take some time to get to the point I could work half time and still make that cut-off. I think I ended up being very luck. I paid my dues early and I paid them hard. Then I found a place that can’t pay the kind of stratospheric salaries I would have made had I stayed where I was, but that really values a work-life balance and tries to keep salaries competitive so they can keep good talent.

@EdersonsSmileyTattoo - I'm in similar situation to your DH, I'm in lucky position where my company needs me more than I need them as I'm single point of failure (their fault!) and they need my knowledge. I actually resigned a couple of weeks ago, and they offered me so much to stay I couldn't turn them down. I work from home minimum 3 days a week, always finish at 4pm and earn close to 300k. No stress either!

I earn c. £120k pa. It is a fairly niche role and no one else does it in the company. However I am by no means a high flyer, more so that I found a niche and I’m good at it. A note of caution, niches can pigeon hole you negatively too and if I ever lost my job it would potentially be difficult to find exactly the same elsewhere.
I didn’t take much maternity, I was always switched on and I was willing to go the extra mile. Ultimately too scared of failing. I now have a good work/life balance. When we could travel that impacted my personal time more but now I work 40/45 ish hours a week sometimes less sometimes a bit more.

Mrsmalcolm

Your attitude is why many many people leave private law firms. ‘We don’t flog them...if they regularly work 50 hours a week we check they are ok’! Then you call the OP entitled for wanting a decent wage and hours that enable to actually have a life. I’d call her smart/sensible not entitled.

50 hours a week - 9 to 7 say. With commute (although appreciate everyone working from home at the moment) that’s out of the house 8-8. No one can have a family with those hours! You’d never see your children during the week. You couldn’t do an after work gym class. You couldn’t meet friends for dinner. And you are saying those hours like we are so reasonable we even check they are ok working these ‘reasonable’ hours!

What happens after you check on them? Do you pat them on the back for sacrificing their lives so you can earn obscene amounts of cash whilst rolling your eyes at the ‘entitled’ lawyers who actually want to go home at 5pm?

This is why there is a mental health problem in law. People like you. Do you really need to earn what you are earning? Could not earn half the amount and actually let your staff have lives?

Take home £80k and final salary pension. Niche job in public sector, law degree (not lawyer). Paid for what I know not what I do. Flexi time. Can take all my leave. Occasional evening phone call or work late for deadline.

Dh did an insanely pressured Job in public sector for 10 years, high profile, high personal reputation risk, for only about £20k more. He was working from 8am to 10pm or later. Nearly killed him.

He’s now in sales, earns about the same, wfh, normal hours and normal job. Pressure but just normal.

@mrsmalcolmreynolds

I'm a partner in a niche City law firm. Most of our lawyers earn six figures and we don't flog them - if we see a full time employee regularly clocking more than 50hrs a week we check if they're OK.

Having said that, I do think your ambition of getting to that sort of salary without demonstrating some significant commitment somewhat smacks of entitlement. I don't think that people need to be "always on" but equally thinking you can earn serious money without showing some flexibility and personal investment in the business you work for is unrealistic. It also suggests you may not be that interested in the work that you would be doing to achieve those financial goals, and I think that's a fast track to discontentment.

Entitlement. That's what I got too from that post. I'm a high-earner too but had to put in the long hours for nearly 20 years. I still check emails in the evenings and at weekends. You tend to have to in most senior and highly-paid roles.

[quote Rae34]@doadeer oh I'd love to DM you about this if you don't mind?[/quote]
Yes sure

I’m General Counsel at an MNC. Early 40s earning high six figures and beyond (depending on stock).

Generally speaking I start at 8:30 and finish about 6. I have pretty much total control over my calendar so huge amounts of flexibility day to day: I could go to sports day when those were a thing and I pick the DC up from school frequently.

What I don’t have is the opportunity to fully switch off. The idea of taking two weeks off without checking my emails or dialling in for a few calls is unfathomable.

In my 20s when I was in private practice I worked much longer hours, easily clocking up 70 hours a week.

I then set up my own company which was beyond intense. I lived and breathed it for several years with no let up: it was more like a child than a job! But the work I put in afforded me tremendous opportunities which is usually the deal.

I’ve worked insanely long hours in my youth and still get paid Jack shit 😂 Christ it’s time for a career change.

Me. Self employed but work in the media. Seven figures. Work from home and go to the city 2/3 days a week.

I’m a senior in-house lawyer with close to 20 year’s experience.

I’ve never worked crazy hours. Currently I work 9.30ish to 6pm but I find 6pm a bit late - this is due to the particular nature of the work I do. I have two young DC (one primary school, one pre school) and I drop DS to school every day. I’m senior enough now that I have flexibility to Go to school events or whatever assuming I can arrange my schedule to suit. Occasionally there as been a project that has gone late (I can think of maybe a dozen times over the last 10 years) or events to be attended. It’s not the norm.

I very much believe that any job should be able to generally be done in 40 hours and if you are routinely doing more than that you’re either working ineffectively or your job hasn’t been scoped properly. I encourage my juniors not to donate their lives to the business- life is too short. I would never work in private practice for this reason. That said I do routinely check emails/messages over the weekend and on leave. It’s not often I need to do anything but occasionally I take a call or draft a quick email.

I managed to specialise in an area of law that I really love and where my expertise is quite niche- I was never the straight A student and I didn’t come from a super-privileged background so I feel very lucky.

I agree anyone working over 40 hours hasn’t scoped their job properly or is ineffective. Responsibility can be 24/7 but you should be training those beneath you to be able to handle this at times you are not in.

I'm always really 8nterested in these threads.

I was a high acheiver (A grades/oxbridge) but although extended family are all in good careers/well off/boarding schools my immediate family imploded and I didn't have a clue about careers. At all.

We are now low income for a number of reasons and I so hope to advise my children better!

My DH and I each earn six figures. I work stupid hours some week - late nights, early mornings, middle of the night presentations to markets in other time zones etc. But I usually have weekends completely clear, and can be pretty flexible during the week. My DH earns 3-4 times what I do (depending on bonuses and various company fortunes) and works considerably more comfortable hours. He's also permanently working from home now. We're both in our 40s and have worked passionately in our careers, moving across three continents to gain global experience and niche knowledge.

So much of it is luck @SavingsQuestions

I’m sure your kids will benefit hugely from your interest and your education. My mum was a primary school teacher and my dad had a series of not very successful businesses. We didn’t have much money and they had no understanding of what a legal career might look like and we didn’t know any lawyers - but they absolutely believed in me and I grew up thinking I could do anything I put my mind to, and that I was the equal of anyone. I realise now that was a great gift.

@fruitandflowers

I am - I earn between £500k - £1.5m pa depending on how my stock performs. Depends on what your definition of core hours is. I work mostly 830-6, with some catch up (c 30mins 2x pw) after kids in bed. Very very rarely work weekends. But have the odd weeks where I work much more than that. And to get where I am now have had to put in some seriously long hours.

But now I don’t feel particularly hard worked. I could also be much more senior / better paid but am choosing to coast (for want of a better word) now a little bit now as have young kids.

You are coasting on £1.5m pa?

What's your job?

@Gennz18 what a lovely post and your family sound great!

Not this thread at all but I often feel anxious we can't provide the background/knowledge/connections I'd like to and you are right we will provide that loving supportive foundation I didnt have, whatever they end up doing! 🥰

@SavingsQuestions I'm also watching with interest. As an academic, have the credentials, long years to where I am now, niche subject in a stem field, work mad hours, including weekends and on leave (sometimes I take leave just to be able to concentrate on research!) for less than 60k. Now they're trying to take our pensions away (the only perk we had, which was defined benefit). Will probably move to an EU country where my equivalents earn 250k. I'm not alone, there's a brain drain. And advise high earners to start targeting EU or us unis for their children in the future... Do I sound bitter enough? :D

@Fondizone same here and I am also a bit bitter ;-) Friends I went to uni with are now all high earners and no longer work crazy hours.....whereas in academia you get neither. Sadly, I assume that at 40 it's too late to start over plus I can no longer work 70hr weeks because of the kids. Austerity really screwed us over and life in places like London is just crazily expensive now. I would totally go back and make a different career choice if I could but I cant which is a shame.

I am not sure how mine fits to be honest 🤣
I can sort of do as much as I want or as little as I want

So 1 week I can just do my “ stable “ hours which is 9-4 mon - Thursday.
But then I can do other jobs on top of this ( same field ) some require 9 am - midnight or over night travel etc

I can earn between 150,000 to 450,000 a year I normally average out at around 300,000 a year.

I am a hair makeup and costume stylist. I also make money via social media / YouTube.