Aibu to worry when jobs that sound so important have such a low salary?

[merrigorownd]

I'm currently job hunting, so get a few mailshots, and have an alert set up for analytical jobs in the civil service. I'm often surprised at how low the salaries are for job titles that sound strategically important for the running of our country. This is just a random example.

The range shown is for someone based in Darlington, but I clicked through to the detail and the London range was only £3k higher. I know the cost of living is lower in Darlington than in London, and that £50k is relatively a high wage in that area, but if I was a Darlington-based economist with the required level of competence to lead a team of 15 people in advising Government ministers on national policy, I think I might be well aware of my ability to earn much more with a different employer.

This is a false conclusion, even if we take what you say as true and agree it’s a slower pace of work or less demanding etc there’s many reasons a talented person might take a job like that on - childcare or other caring responsibilities, stress in other areas of their life, flexible working, not like the atmosphere of the private sector. Money isn’t everything and some people are very talented but not super career driven.

Also the idea there isn't red tape or hierarchy in large private companies is laughable.

I am trying to get some fairly non controversial data from a large, household name company at the moment for a work project. The amount of people that need to check and sign it off is astonishing.

For me the work life balance I have at CS, the high A/L , bank holidays plus 2 extra bank holidays and the general job security puts me off looking outside of where I am, but I am aware that I could do a similar role in the private sector and be paid more than I do in the CS.

CS strike today over pay actually, although it's overshadowed by the Teachers/ Doctor strikes we've had lately.

Ah this thread is depressing, I am a civil servant and I started another thread about how overwhelmed I feel at work. And that my “part-time” job isn’t really part-time at all.

I must be a special kind of useless to be feeling like this when CS jobs are so flexible and straightforward and don’t involve any actual work or decisions 😭

I work for a publicly owned company (not CS). I earn 34k but in the private sector could probably earn around 50k.
I get to WFH majority of the time, 21% pension (they add 12%), 6 months full sick / 6 months half sick, 35 days A/L (I buy a week) plus all bank holidays, performance salary paid up to 10%, 6 months full pay mat leave..

The benefits - annual leave! - for me keep me here for now. But there are definitely reasons why people stay. The red tape is ridiculous though but as stated our purpose as a business isn’t just money, so it’s a balancing act.

And I also do a 9 day fortnight (flexible working) - it’s v difficult for them to decline a FW.

I don't disagree at all and there's clearly a lot of Nuance to this, but if you think about it, the pool of people is narrower and narrower, hence the recruitment issues.

If you're looking for someone who wants a slower pace/flexibility due to the reasons above, but is talented, experienced and is also willing to earn less and work in this kind of environment to do so - it's a significantly smaller pond to fish (recruit) in. It likely excludes a good 80/90% of people in most roles.

For what it's worth, it's certainly something I'll consider in 10 years time if I still want to earn what many would consider a good wage but slow down a little as I head into my 50s. As much as I enjoy what I do, it can be ridiculously stressful in the private sector and I'm not sure this is something I can imagine being able to sustain at 50 and beyond.

Spotted on Twitter - someone else pointing out another worryingly underpaid CS job!

... Even the Cyber Security lead at my Higher Education employer earns more then £57k!

Yeah, but as people have pointed out abive "Head of" in the CS does not mean the same thing as it does in the private sector.

The very senior grades are Deputy Director and Permanent Secretary. Those will be the ones on the 6 figure salaries.

For context I work for a non CS public body and I am definitely not a "Head of" but I regularly meet with CS "Heads of" and regard them as my peers. My salary is higher than the one advertised but not hugely so.