Would you class £32,000 as a good salary?

[Poshpuppy]

I know there are so many variables. For a 21 year old living at home it's probably a very good salary!
For a single parent who owns a home maybe not.

For me, I'm 35 and I don't feel this is a good salary for me. I'm in the Civil Service, I have a degree and master's, it's my own fault for possibly doing qualifications that haven't led to anything higher paid/more specific.
I'm an EO/Executive Officer grade which is junior. There are not many HEO/Higher Officer grades that don't require very niche experience or line management, there are also few fewer HEOs than AOs or EOs so competition is tough.

I'm looking outwards at the local council, third sector and private sector. I know money isn't everything but when you have things to pay for and any chance of saving then it does help. I think I'd feel comfortable on closer to 40k, whether this will happen is another matter.

Of course there will be people on under 30k who manage perfectly fine, it's all relative. Just wondered what anyone thought!

Just to add it’s not the civil service that’s the issue here, £32K for an EO grade is not a bad salary, it is an entry level grade, the issue is you are staying in an entry level grade. You need to work your way up, that doesn’t happen automatically in the civil service, you have to plan for it and do it.

Well I'd be happy with that - currently on a zero hours minimum wage contract- but if you're not you need to look around. Ds22 graduated with a Masters in July last year and is now a civil servant. He is earning £40,500 a year (not in London) with no one under him. I think he's a HEO but not sure.

Also ds has a clear idea of how he'd like his career to progress so he expects to go up to the next grade in the next 3 to 5 years. There aren't many of that grade where he works but he will move if there isn't a position. (He gets extra as his skills are deemed scarce)

Is it not actually good? OP must be in Ops (DWP OR HMRC?) as I swear the EOs in my dept. earn slightly less as deskbased policy work.

Ds is a SEO (first job out of university) not a HEO as I thought.

I applied for fast stream but wasn’t successful.

I’ve moved from AO to SEO within 5 years and am on track for a G7 role within the next 5 years, and don’t have a masters.

Progression in the Civil Service isn’t a given, you have to apply for things and work on your skills. Sometimes a sideways move gets you more than an upwards move, don’t chase the grade, you need to actually want to do the job.

Agree - where I work, HEO posts are like rocking horse poo or are "dead man's shoes"

Civil Service pay does vary across the agencies - I am MOD and about half way up the EO scale and earn £32,500. CS pay was good but then came austerity (2007) so for at least 5 years we had barely any pay rises (1% or so) and we slipped behind other sectors.

Not these days no.

I have a degree and over 40 years’ experience in a very skilled field. I earn less than half of that (I’m in the third sector), so I consider it a very good wage.

It's not bad! I know some people working 2 part time jobs just making £24k a year. I wouldn't be upset about it put it that way. And it will increase since its a junior salary

An EO in the MOD received a 5% increase last year. Pay advice indicates up to 3.25% increase this year. And the last couple of years has been over 3% if I recall correctly. A far cry from 1%. I do agree MOD pay has slipped but this is why you get experience and exit to industry at G7/G6.

What is your job specifically? Or what department?

But if youve only been doing your current role since January maybe you need to gain some experience amd can then apply for HEO?

If youre looking for HEO roles and youve gaps in essential criteria maybe you need to speak to your manager about gain the experience to meet it and accept that it might be unlikely you'd be able to become a HEO 2 months after achieving EO

It depends on where you live and if you have a family to support. As a single mother that lives in London (who doesn't get benefits and gets a very small amount of money from child's father) it would not be enough. But kids are insanely expensive. If you don't live in London, then your rent is going to be much much cheaper and so less goes further. Good luck though!!!

I was on roughly this at your age, but in university professional services, maybe about £3k more. Ten years down the line, I had a few external promotions and I’m now earning just over double that. I live in the south east, so it helps enormously, but I have lived elsewhere in the country comfortably on far less.

Are you part time?

Sorry OP, I don't think that is a great salary for someone of your age and qualifications. But aren't the less good public sector salaries supposed to be offset by better pension and holidays?
Personally I wish both pay and pensions were aligned across private and public sector to make moving between them easier.

No it’s very low. Have you got much work experience? It’s a low grade with your quals

Not these days… someone can work minimum wage and earn £26k… if you took a pie chart of that salary take off paye tax/NI, possibly student loan deducted… then take off rent, council tax, utilities, phone/internet, TV licence, clothing, toiletries, food shopping… travel costs (if car also fuel duty, road tax), road insurance, house insurance, prescription costs etc guarantee there would not be much left…
These days salary matters less than if you win the housing lottery. Those condemned to rent ever more or those who have to buy at peak prices are screwed really as those costs take such huge portion of income.

I think if I'd studied to that level ( I didn't), I would expect to earn more than that at 35.
However, i think we have to stop expecting formal qualifications to earn us loads of money. There are other qualities that that are more important imo. Ive known lots of people who didn't have the 'qualifications ' but have done well because of personal skills.

Indeed, the thing is that there aren’t many formal qualifications that will land you a high paying career on their own, it takes a lot of additional effort whether that be additional training, mentoring, stepping up at work, exposing yourself to new skills, being willing to move around different jobs. People who do that are the most successful people that can guarantee higher wages I think, gone are the days for most that you can just go to uni, walk into a graduate job and work your way up naturally in the same organisation without a lot of extra effort and strategy. Especially in the civil service, it just doesn’t work like that anymore.

Yes, due to my disability and lack of full time jobs in the sector, but even if I were able to get full time hours my salary would be considerably less than the OP.

If you don't feel your skills and experience are valued then the salary is too low and you need to start planning your next move.

Ignore your colleagues, and a lot of the responses here- it doesn't matter whether other people are happy with their lot or whether they have to work 18 hour days. You make your own happiness.

Ten years of frozen wages has scarred the Civil Service and pay isn't great. Depending on department and location, advancement can be difficult. Look at departments that offer more money and see what you would need to meet 60-70% of the job spec. Think outside of the box- use non-work examples of you have to.

Also, recruitment in the Civil Service goes in cycles- at the moment, no-one has money and there are plans to cut numbers, so no recruitment. In a few years they'll panic that everyone is retiring or leaving and gorge on new recruits. It really is feast or famine.

Was just curious that's all. Because no one should work FT and get under £16k.

Also curious what industry you're in.

IT in the charity sector, they only pay minimum wage regardless of skill or qualifications.