To ask what your biggest jump in pay has been?

[Freethetipple]

Currently work in the public sector and when I see some jobs in private sector that align closely with what I do, I’m astounded at the pay differential.

So, AIBU to ask what your biggest pay increase has been and how you went about it please?

There are so many benefits of working in the public sector (I’m currently a mid-senior level Civil Servant) including pension, flexible working etc, but am I missing a trick by sticking with a bang average salary when I could be earning double that elsewhere??

I jumped.
Yeah, GREAT pension but quite frankly, I would get it at 68 and by that time I don't believe I will be in state to travel and enjoy my great pension based on my family's medical history.
I am saving and looking at investing bits there and there.

That 68 is if pesion won't move again🙈
Fuck that

This year when minimum wage jumped nearly £1 an hour!!!

A lot of private sector orgs have upped their offerings with pensions and other benefits so I don't actually think public sector is a good as it used to be. However, you are generally much more protected in the public sector, as private companies are more likely to dismiss/make redundancies.

I recently went from 55K to 73K with an internal promotion and a company review of aligning pay with others in the industry, private sector.

I went from 3.5 days a week where I had been coasting in the private sector to FT at at a new firm (finally, ML and PT screwed me over) and got back to where I should have been. over 50% pay rise.

I have great pension, benefits, flexible working, healthcare for me and family.

Why stay in the public sector?

I got a 35% pay rise, from moving to a company that paid poor salaries for levels of experience, and had screwed me over with a promotion pay rise, to a company that paid market rate.

I went up £7k from last year by telling my company I was thinking about leaving and pointing out that I'd been doing my managers job for no extra pay since she left in 2019 and they had never hired a replacement.

They went 'Oh no!', immediately topped up my wage and gave me an on the spot £2k bonus.

Always worked in private sector, have moved a couple of times but my greatest pay jump was in 2022 from promotion - a pay rise of £37,100 from £72k to £109,100.

Took ten years from starting my graduate role on £19,500 to achieve that.

Thanks for your reply! I definitely hear you about the pension. People are quick to tell me I’m mad for even considering leaving the CS (especially as a single parent of an infant) but my salary gets us nowhere. Even the weekly Lidl shop is costing more than double what it used to, and I’m fed up of being skint. I spend so much of my day looking at jobs elsewhere but I’m frightened that the extra £££ would be at a cost to either work / life balance, or that I’d be so stressed and busy in the private sector which I must admit I never ever feel in my present role 🫤🫤🫤

100% pay increase. But that was after having to take a 50% pay cut during covid, so got back to pre-covid pay.
The reason for the pay cut was going from self employed contractor to a permanent staff member, and 18 months later being able to go back to contracting.

It is definitely worth finding out what the pension offerings are in private companies. They can vary wildly. I currently have 10% paid by my company. Others I have looked at offer 5% or less. And some offer way more.

Sorry, there was only the response from @Cheesusisgrate when I wrote that reply!

Thanks to all that have responded since. I really value any shared experiences and insights into how you’ve developed and grown your income x

@TeleTropes wows!!

Whats sector please

Big 4 Accountancy (tax), and the jump was on my director promotion (but I was toward the bottom of the senior manager band before that so I think my jump might have been bigger than most).

Academia. Salary jump from ~£50k to ~£70k following internal promotion, combined with negotiating salary point upon promotion. I could get 25% more in industry, but get 20% pension here, and excellent work-life balance and total autonomy.

I got 40% pay rise to move to the employer I am with. Been there 4 years and earn 25% more than my starting wage.

I have been offered a promotion which would mean another pay rise. Probably 10-15% of current wage

If my employer continues like this I will never leave. People rarely do to be fair

Similar boat to you OP - combination of good pension and lengthy continuous service keeps me where I am but am twitchy to make a move. Best solution for me would be voluntary redundancy and then I could start again somewhere else without having to think about continuous service!

Having just applied for something elsewhere which is a 22K bump on my existing salary though, this thread has made me feel less ridiculous about going for it.

@TeleTropes wow!! That sound's amazing

Last year jumped from £55k to £75k which is obviously quite a jump, due to a promotion/ new job (could see it either way as went to a different part of civil service).

COL and some issues with child maintenance mean I’m not seeing any improvement in living standards for a much more stressful job though.

And my current job only exists in London

I know, it’s so tricky isn’t it. When Rees-Mogg announced his plans for a huge CS cull my first thought (although I was on maternity leave at the time) was, ‘this could actually be a godsend if they give me VR.’ Although I’m only saying that for my own circumstances and know it left a lot of people feeling very uneasy.

I want to do what’s best for me and my child and, while I know that a 27% pension contribution isn’t to be sniffed at, I can’t help but think that extra money now and in the foreseeable future would be better for us both. More enriching. I just want to give my child the very best of everything; not material things, but experiences and culture and time together that we both can look back on fondly. And, sadly, having no money left over at the end of the month (or even by the middle of the month) just isn’t allowing that right now.

I don’t know what to do. But I’m thankful for those that are sharing. I might just apply for some things and see how it pans out.

When I left my last company and went contracting. My monthly pay became my daily rate.

Within 2 months was booked for 3 years.

I went from 20k to 32k in one jump.

Another company bought us out, then before I could get into post (they kept us all on) another job came up sort of half of what I do, so I applied internally and by the time the purchase was done I moved into the new role.

It was! And it was way more than I expected too. I think I floated around in shock for a week!

I once got £72K in back pay and a £24K pay rise after fighting my NHS Trust for three years to get my post regraded - I had been working at consultant level on a Staff Grade salary, but it took an official grievance and much fighting by the BMA industrial relations team to swing it.