To ask how hard you work for your >100k job

[Shed82]

name Changed for this as high earner post.

am early 40s and several months into a >100k salary, eg this month I took home £7k after tax, and feel it’s an achievement to get to this level of income. But obviously it comes with increased stress and responsibility. I wonder what sort of hours others work for their six figure roles/what stress you feel and ultimately whether you think it’s worth it.

I do 37.5 hours a week and am on 6 figures - I am very busy and have a lot of influence (technical, strategy, process) across multiple teams but I wouldn't say I'm stressed, it can be overwhelming though. My company is pretty unique however with respect to culture and lack of pressure to do overtime etc. so I think i'm pretty lucky. I also think it's quite common to be earning 6 figures in technology though - any kind of software development role with some decent experience behind you for example will get you that income pretty handily (in Dublin)

I earn about 190k give or take.

Hours vary... some weeks can be as little as 30, some as many as 60. But lately it's been pretty good. I'm usually glued to my phone and will respond to emails or messages at any time. Doesn't bother me. I'll happily respond to a question out of hours. I enjoy what I do and don't feel the need to strictly shut off and separate work vs. personal. Appreciate others won't feel the same way.

Work 100% from home. I have to travel around half a dozen times a year for an average of 3 days at a time. Aside from the times I'm away, always available to do the drop off and pick up.

"Unlimited" time off, but this year i'll take around 25 days, plus bank holidays.

Agree with the others who point out that as you get more senior/experienced/wiser the pay:hours ratio comes down... ten years ago I was on 2/3rds what I make now and doing anywhere between 50-75 hours a week with going to the office and a lot more travel.

Amazing, do you mind me asking what your side hustle is?

I earn well over that, am self employed and work around 20 hours a week on a big week, and I choose the hours. There are millions of people earning minimum wage working way harder than I do.

My DH earned £100k. 60 hour week minimum. Worked most weekends for some of the time. Always on call, even when on annual leave. Managed budgets in the millions and responsible for almost £800M of real estate. Travelled nationally. Failure to manage estate safetly could result in corporate manslaughter charge.
Save as much as you can so you can bail or retire when you've had enough. Not sure if it was worth it as he missed his only child growing up.

@Ledwood85 can I ask what you do?

Agree with pp its less about hours and more about the responsibility.

I think if you aren’t a worrier/stresser by nature you can take on these big roles. I have a stressful job (law) but I’ve deliberately chosen to stay as an employee so “only” earn just shy of £60k. But I know I couldn’t handle more stress.

DH sails through life and is fine with checking emails in evening, working a bit on holiday so doesn’t bother him.

When I had that, I was first in the office - 6am to get something done before the team came in. When they were in my whole day was looking after them and coaching them, troubleshooting, helping them do their very best. When they left I’d stay in the office to finish my stuff off then get home for around 8:30-9pm, say goodnight to the kids, open my laptop and do a bit more. Rinse and repeat for ten years.

Much happier now not doing that. Not been paid a salary since March 2022, developing a new thing now and I will never work like that ever again.

@nameychanger5678

Absolutely.

I work in a sales/consultancy role for a company that develops data analytics software.

My job has many offshoot functions, but at its core I have to show how our product solves certain challenges and will grow the business of large organizations (turnover £1bn+).

The deals that depend on me showing up and convincing our customers can be anywhere from a couple of hundred thousand to £1m in size. So, massive pressure as I need to make sure that when I present to an executive team or a board, my research is spot-on, I nail everything about they've told us previously, and that the software presentation works flawlessly.

I should add this is a startup, so the pressure to perform is immense - we have big venture cap investors who want to see a return quickly. Turnover has been huge, especially on the sales side. There's no safety here.

Background before this was in big tech doing similar roles - but less stressful.

So while the hours and work/life balance isn't awful, I suppose I completely overlooked how stressful it is! I've added a ton of grey in the last couple of years!

I work 37 hours a week no evenings or weekends. I have a lot of flexibility and it’s not very stressful. I guess the company pays for experience and the ability to make quick decisions. Years ago when I earned under £50K had to work much longer hours and it was hard.

I earn this working for myself. Some days I work till 7 or 8pm, some days I clock off at 2pm and go get my nails done. Overall I work far less hours than when I was employed earning less than half the money.

A partner in a city firm

it’s tough - I work until the night if I have to, and sometimes need to log in on weekends. And as I lead a team and sign off advice there’s a lot of responsibility and it’s stressful

that said - lots of people work as hard or harder but earn less.

ultimately and unfairly capitalism determines the level of salary

Most weeks 50hpw
The last couple of months, I've worked until.10pm a couple of nights a week. Will be working some of tomorrow.
I tend to check emails when I'm not working. The CEO equivalent might message me any time between 7am and 9.45pm.

DH routinely works 50hpw. Used to be a great deal more.

Both early 60s. I didn't do it when DC were at school but earnt half my current salary.

I don't get very stressed by nature.

Just to clarify that there are other more senior partners that earn £500k plus (it’s a well known firm and this is public knowledge) - yes they have a lot of responsibility, seniority and experience - but do they really work harder than all people earning far far less

no of course not

I work 9.30am to 7.30pm most weekdays and sometimes at the weekend.

I find the work interesting though, and have a good crack with colleagues.

Thing is, I was the same when I earned a lot less as well. I'd rather spend 10 hours on something I'm proud of than 7 hours on something half-assed so I figure I might as well be at a level where I get paid for it.

To be honest the thing I find most stressful is DH putting me under pressure to work less. I find leaving stuff unfinished to get home on time means work piles up.

As far as I can tell everyone I work with does roughly the same hours as I do. Some finish earlier to have family time but are then online again later.

DH earns £120k and easily works 70 hours a week. Stressed to the hilt, never ever eats lunch at work as he has no time, has missed out so much on family life, and the DC barely see him during the week. I feel ill at all the posters saying they earn 6-figures and only do 9-5 and have little stress - DH’s job will kill him but he will never entertain changing it.

I earn £42 000 as a teacher and work 90 hour weeks. I couldn’t work anymore and dread to think how many hours you work for earning more than double!

I have made six figures working 60-80 hour weeks as norm as well as working 20 hours a week or less. Same for DH. Work life balance has less to do with the salary than with the nature of the role and company culture. As a rule of thumb, you will work more hours in loosely defined roles (where your responsibilities might be expansive), in start ups or smaller firms where you are expected to pitch in outside of your specific role, and in roles where ‘billable time’ is a metric.

fwiw, I was most miserable in the job that paid well into 6 figures and only required a day or two of real effort per week - it was boring, and a bit of a dead end in terms of growth potential. I really enjoyed my 60-80 hour a week role (until I didn’t) because I was learning loads, saw real impact of my effort, and had minimal family commitments at the time. Obviously the calculations change when you have children - I am much more tolerant of a bit of boredom these days if it means I can make pick-up.

That’s the thing though @Loveandloveandlove i work less than half the hours you do and earn over 3 times more. Lots of high salary roles don’t always mean long hours

I’m £10k under. I’m pretty damn good at my job but I also finish most days by school pick up and never work late….

Ironically, I run a forum on t'Internet. It's not exactly big compared with this place, but about 40k members. It survived on donations for years, then outgrew the hosting so I slapped ads on it and gave people the option to subscribe to get a few extras and no ads, and between those two things it brings in a decent chunk of cash. Moderation and keeping the servers going is basically child's play (I'm a developer), so the only real pain is when we get full-on attacked by idiots in Russia/China, which happens a couple of times a year. Oh, and the odd legal threat by people who don't understand defamation law ;)

Make a lot more than that but it isn't related to how many hours I put in.

I'm paid for my knowledge and the decisions I make.

I've done it so long, I could do it in my sleep.

It’s not about how many hours you work, it’s about the value you can add. At least that’s my experience in senior corporate roles. When you are making decisions which affect 1000s of other people, and which will be shifting the direction of a large global company, you are being paid for the compound experience, knowledge and insight that underpins your judgment. You are paid for the upsides of your contribution, but you also have to accept the downsides too. But when you are at this level you will be earning much more than 100k.

Not so much hours (8.45-5.45) but my skill set is valuable. As in, I’ve come up with mathematical techniques and written code that makes my employer millions in a year.

MNetters think you get paid for ‘working hard’ which is crap. Seniority, responsibility, and experience are also touted and whilst there is some correlation, you are paid based on how much value you bring to your employer (how much in $$$ you make/save them) with the lower bound of that being the minimum they think they can get away with without you leaving.

I would say my job has long term pressure and acute stress, but there are few jobs which satisfy the Venn diagram of intellectually stimulating - well paid - work life balance. Thankfully mine is one of them.

Id say DH worked harder to get to the point he was earning > 100k, lots of extra hours and stress whilst climbing the ladder. At the moment his hours are pretty much 9-5 and flexible. It could change again though .

I earn nearly that and agree that it’s less the hours and more making the « final call » and your decision having big financial consequences.

Hours wise I don’t do a lot!