Salary expectations

[Blackbookofsmiles1]

I’m looking for some opinions on salary expectations.

A married women in her early 40’s with two children and a mortgage, working 40 paid hours a week, mon-fri at 26,500k. Worked since 16 so have over 2 decades of work experience in various office roles. I live in the Midlands.

Would you say 26,500k is an acceptable salary being at the life stage I’m at? Or is this a very low wage? Just gathering thoughts to help me decide if I should take this job or find one with a better salary, as to me this is very low and more like a starters wage, but not sure if my expectations are in line with reality?

I think the salary is more dependent on the job than the person and their age. What job is it?

That's very low in my opinion, but depends on your life. That wouldn't pay for my lifestyle

It’s barely above minimum wage so hardly even average (£12.21 from April x 40 x 52 = 25,395), let alone good!

It’s an office job, not management level if that helps.

That's very low. New graduates in my finance job get £28-30k outside London and get a lot of training so their wage is lower to account for training.

What type of office job thought……basic admin, no staff to manage, or degree qualified with responsibilities for budgets and line management?

it's low. My PA works part time but FT the equivalent would be 48k

It’s all relative though. I was getting paid that at 24, and DH was getting paid more than that when I met him and he was 28, so yes it seems low to me. As PP said, it’s not much more than the new minimum wage, so there wont be many non NMW jobs that pay less than that.

I find that low. My dd23 started a job before Christmas, patient services in a hosp, no qualifications needed. Her salary would be 29800 if full time but she works 4 days a week. My ds21 works for a theater part time, he's on 15 an hour. We're in Ireland though.

You choosing to have children, being married and having a mortgage is irrelevant!

At 40, I would assume someone to be at least in a managerial role- IF they wanted that and if not a manager, then earning more for 40hrs a week. Not everyone wants to climb the career ladder though. I personally hated line management. It was stressful, but I was on 3x your current wage when I was 30. My current wage is less, but its also less stressful, completely WFH and I enjoy it SO much more.

It also depends on your qualifications, sector etc. I don't imagine admin work would pay alot more- unless in management. Is there something else you'd like to do OP? I'm sure you'd have alot of transferrable skills. Proof reading? A friend does this as part of his job, but as a side line, proof reads secondary and uni papers in his own time.

I think that's a low wage and not far off the minimum. Is there any chance of salary progression or can you find higher paid admin roles? Surely you would have the experience to apply for office manager roles?

Taking the job excludes you from looking at better jobs. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. Take the job if you need the income and continue to look for a better paid position if you like.

It depends on your experience and responsibilities. Perhaps look online for similar roles and see what salaries are being advertised as a guide. Essentially what would your employers have to pay someone to replace you?

Ahh- I've just re-read your OP and wrongly thought this was a job you already had and were asking about that.
Have you had a break when having the children or do you have a current job? Is that pay more or less than the job you are thinking about?

If you've had years of no work due to having children, then maybe you do need to re-enter the workforce at a lower wage. If you already have a job, or only missed a year here or there, then it does seem low.

It’s nothing to do with your age, kids, mortgage status. It’s about the job responsibilities and the experience and skills you bring that are relevant to the role. Have you researched the market? Have a look around a few websites…

https://uk.talent.com/salary
https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/index.htm

Salary is paid to represent the value of the role to the employer (in theory)
Need more specifics on the role. “Office based” is not sufficient detail upon which to benchmark
if we know the role titles and your full list of responsibilities then we can point out some benchmarks.
you may well be taking on many more responsibilities than your title gives you credit for, and indeed than you were hired to do - ie they may not be in your JD. That can give you negotiation power and/or give you inspiration and confidence to put yourself forward for new roles.

Employers will be paying as little as they can for each role because it increases their profit margin which is what they exist. You will not get significantly more unless you make a strong case as to why this is a good business decision for them and will increase their profitability (usually the argument is “I am doing 2x people’s jobs here is proof. The market rate for these jobs is X, cost to hire a new employee and train them is XXX. I deserve the market rate why is Y. Help me to stay. You do need to be prepared to walk though)

Oh it’s a job you are thinking of doing?
no I wouldn’t take it because you will resent every second because you already know you are being underpaid which is why you are hesitant. You already know your experience is not being valued by that employer which is why they aren’t remunerating you for it.
find one that does

I'm perhaps coming from a slightly different perspective as I live in the Midlands and if you're in the same part as me it's a very low wage area, so many many jobs are advertised around this salary.
I earn 49k and don't think I know more than a handful of people living locally to me on more than that other than self employed trades or very senior roles.
I guess what I'm saying is it's all relative to the job, the industry and the location. The issue is that minimum wage has, rightly, risen but those less skilled / less senior jobs just above have frozen wages so seems much worse.

It’s really low tbh…..

To me that is very low, but it depends on your previous experience and salaries, surely?

If you’ve got 10yrs express and previously earned £60k then you wouldn’t entertain that job offer. If you have zero work experience, then maybe an entry-level offer would reflect that?

Your age doesn’t matter, it’s your experience/qualifications that matter.

Worked since 16 so have over 2 decades of work experience

This makes it sound like you have worked continuously since 16? What do you earn now?

If you've had time out though, that is relevant here-how many years? What was your job before? What did you earn?

Seems very low, although it matters more if you love it and are happy

For context, I was earning more than that in sales admin over 20 years ago, and my dd18 earns more than that now (supermarket degree apprenticeship)

How are you going to get a job that earns more? I’m on more than that, work part time and wouldn’t work for what you’re being paid. But my experience and qualifications mean I don’t have to. You can’t just decide to earn more.

You need to consider the whole package - pensions, holidays etc, commuting costs, flexibility of working from home etc etc. NB Public sector pensions are massively valuable (like 20-30% compared with 3-5% private) so make up for a 'lower' wage.

Objectively, it's not a well paid job, but there are millions of jobs like this so many people are paid similar. But if it fits in lots of other ways (interesting company, or stress free, or massive flexibility, or walk to work no costs...), then it's worth more than the same job paying more elsewhere.

I'm on a poor salary for my qualification, but all the jobs I find for the same thing about £5-10k more do not have the flexibility my job has, and I value that more.

That's a very low salary. Virtually minimum wage. Also long hours. I work in an office and we're on 35 hours a week as full time.