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.

The high earners I know have fantastic perks which enables them to buy greater support and flexibility. I’ve several friends in very senior pharma roles which tend to be highly structured with clear longterm goals and big support teams. They get the best of catered food at work, reducing their grocery bills, and hardly eat at home. They travel business class, and get air miles and hotel points which enables them to have more luxurious family holidays. They get on average ten more days’ holidays than me. Bonuses are a mix of cash and shares/options. They get health insurance and great employer pension contributions. Mileage or car allowance. Sabbaticals after 5/10 years. Onboarding bonuses if they move firms. Paid taxis to work during Covid to avoid public transport and minimise risk of infection. The salary is only the starting point.

These are all my women friends. Some of the dad-coaches I see at sports are C-suite and yet are on the pitch with bags of balls at 6pm on weeknights. Or senior lawyers who have juniors to do the grunt work. They’ve put in the long hours in their 30s and 40s, and have made the most sacrifices when kids are young. Then appear to make the leap to the next level. Being a high earner can mean you’ve earned the experience and trust to do as much or as little as you feel necessary.

I truly believe the more you earn, the less you have to pay for everyday items (income tax excluded.) When I think of nurses paying for parking at hospitals, or waiting for night buses, I think we have it arseways.

The time I experienced the most burnout was when I was on 65 plus bonus, targets to be reported every day, and a team of 25 to motivate and manage.

My husband works in I.T. and has managed to earn over 100k doing very little for ten years.

He wfh and when he's on a project will work 9-5. He has months on end when he's not on a project and does nothing.

I'm still aghast that this can happen (and he's not the only one in the company they are paying to do nothing).

He generally finds it more stressful not being on a project because of having nothing to do.

Senior NHS management. It is stressful, lots of balls and everyone thinks theirs is the most important. I tend to do early mornings rather than late nights. Normal working day is 8-5:30 or 7:30-5 . Lots of prioritisation and on-call one weekend a month.

I am just under the £100k mark, but I am contracted for a 35 hour week and rarely do above that. It's flexible, my line manager is all about the output not input and promotes a healthy work life balance luckily and the job is generally not particularly stressful. I just happen to have a niche combination of skills and experience that is needed for a team they created, so they're willing to pay.

A close family member is on a similar salary however and is selling his soul, every day, for the money.

My 'luck' won't last forever as I'm sure the team won't be around long term, and I know other areas of the firm are far more stressful. But I'm making hay whilst the sun shines, as they say.

I work hard enough, but not too hard. The odd evening and very rarely weekends. I worked much harder when i was on £30k and I know lots of friends who say the same! I had to prove myself then. Now I can reap the benefits of having done so. The joy of seniority and a high level of expertise, at least in some roles, is being able to say no to things that are unreasonable and call more of the shots.

I work in private healthcare and earn just under that. I work about 35-40 hours a week, Mon-Fri. I'm able to work my diary around going to the gym x 2 lunchtimes a week and catch up with friends. I don't find it stressful as I love my job.
I did however spend 8 years at uni and have the costs associated with that, spent a number of years doing post grad exams, training. I also work until 8pm twice a week which can be tiring.

Less than half. Way less than half.

This is correct.

The things I've worked on and patents I have, have affected many millions and billions of people.

It has nothing to do with time spent.

I'm in the wrong speciality, clearly!

This thread is hilarious. Why is that the jobs with the highest salaries are the ones with no social value? If anything, quite the opposite.

Maybe I've answered my own question.

But don’t join the civil service - you end up with lots of hours and lower pay, even with seniority, responsibilities and lots of experience!

Often that is the case! But not always of course.

I m available 35 - 40 hours a week, and would say I work between 15 - 30 hours a week. I prefer to be busy, when it's quiet, I m an expensive staff member to have loitering around.

I do all the school drop offs and cook for my kids when they walk home from school. Full time WFH.

How are you measuring social value?

My job is to make sure the data of multiple millions of people globally isn't stolen and that people taking exams are doing so in a way that protects the security and integrity of the exam process.

People who are taking exams in all kinds of things like medicine, high school equivalency, professional development...

I'm not hands on caring for or teaching people but does that mean I do nothing of social value?

Please can you say what your DH does?