Why are today’s salaries so crap?

[IWantToHibernate]

Currently keeping my eye out for other jobs, and it’s surprising how salaries are pretty much the same as they were for the same jobs pre-covid 5-6 years ago. Despite inflation, cost of living rises and the minimum wage going up.

Minimum wage is now almost £24k for a 37.5hr a week job, and yet I’m seeing adverts wanting people with a few years experience, a degree and a host of skills paying not much more than that.

Of course I am not knocking minimum wage jobs, it’s more that the jobs that used to pay a fair bit more than minimum wage have not really increased their salaries despite minimum wage increases.

This is in the south east too, and seems to be an issue more in the private sector.

@Meadowfinch And because we see less of the money we earn, crucially we spend less. Labour hasn’t understood this. The state sector is protected in terms of money earned but thinks it’s not. Just look at doctors? What other industry has had that uplift? The issue is that everyone else pays for state expansion and better pensions. There’s low productivity because there’s no incentive to do it better. The state sector has appallingly low productivity and who goes on strike? Mostly the state sector. Everyone else pays for this.

We never recovered from 2008, let alone from the covid years.

Oh, and Brexit.

I left a full-time events role in 2007 and as a senior producer, and I was on £35k. I've been freelance ever since alongside raising our kids. I now want to go back into a full time role, but salaries for the same role I left, same seniority, are in the region of £40k. If you put £35k into the governments inflation calculator, it says it should be £60k in todays money. So in reality, equivalent to a £20k pay cut since 2007!!!

If you look at the US, salaries there have generally kept pace with inflation. In the UK they have not, and our GDP per capita has remained stagnant for over a decade.

Why is this? Thanks to Net-Zero, the cost of energy in the UK is now through the roof (highest in the developed world), making our business uncompetitive and sending manufacturing overseas. Increased regulation, health and safety and red tape does the same, it kills growth. The huge amount of borrowing and money printing during the Covid scam (£400 billion) has led to huge inflation.

Sadly in general for the last 20 years our Tory and Labour Government's have focused on policy that feels good (Net-Zero, DEI, etc), led by their influential friends in the WEF and other unelected global bodies (you'll own nothing and be happy), while our small businesses are crying out for policy based on common sense and realism (now frequently labeled as far-right). This is why the UK is fast becoming a third world country and will continue to sink on the international stage unless a drastic change of course is initiated.

I have noticed this as well OP. My Dad worked in a business development role in the early to mid 90s, it paid £23 k per year. He left for a better paid job as the salary wasn't enough to feed 4 kids, cover all bills etc. (In his telling). Recently I saw a similar job advertised locally, now asking for a degree and some years experience, salary £23 k per year.

I have also noticed, though, there is a collective belief of what constitutes a good salary that is stuck 20 years in the past, with 30 k being good, 40 k very good and 50k a King's Ransom, you hear it on talk radio every time there is a strike and you even see it on here. Like the poster above who mentioned being on 75 k, part time pro rata, so approx 37,000, and people went straight to the assumption that she was spending all round her. I don't know her cicumstances, but with mortgage, childcare, car, bills, the cost of food etc..it likely won't go as far as you think.

I respectfully disagree. Teaching assistants salaries are pro rata as the pay is for term time only - so there's a significant difference. Teaching assistants are notoriously poorly paid.

This won't go down well on here but employers pay as little as they can get away with. Whilst people are 'grateful' to barely be paid minimum wage and don't make a fuss, then employers will continue to pay it, whilst expecting the earth from employees.

From reading many threads on MN, there are posters who describe something like 25k as a good wage! It's not a good wage; it's terrible!

Big companies make millions if not billions in profit each year, so we should all demand that they pay a fair wage!

But that's breaking the law.

Agree with this. It’s nonsense to claim that this is down to national minimum wage. This is just an excuse made by employers who want to get away with paying peanuts.

The reality is that employers will pay as little as they can get away with, regardless of how much profit they are making. At the moment, there is a large oversupply of workers all applying for the same jobs. This is what drives wages down.

Exactly this. NMW increases and NI increases have eaten into employers’ ability to raise all other salaries. Closing the gap in salaries was the point of the NMW. This is the side effect. I said when the NMW was introduced that this would happen. If it didn’t, the NMW would not have made any net difference to low earners.

Unfortunately many employers aren’t making much money! We are a country of SMEs and many of them are not doing that well. A company with a high employee count needs to make a much higher turnover at decent margins to pay 28% more as the Doctors got. That’s virtually impossible. Also turnover does not mean the same as profit. Many companies are just about solvent. They don’t see vast profits.

It’s an employer’s market, dozens of people applying for not enough jobs, it’s disgusting that employers have the mentality of we’re lucky to have a job and they can treat us as poorly as they wish

Since many people today on NLW need tax credits to have enough money, I don't think it's NLW that's the inherent problem. I remember pre 1993 when some wages were in the range of 90p - £1.10 an hour.

What do some people want? Even more people of working age claiming even more benefits because their income isn't even enough to pay necessary bills?

Maybe we should be having loads more children, making sure they live at home, lower the age they can work, and make them give us their wages in order for the family to survive. Like the good old days.

£1 an hour increase would be great. At my last promotion then l got an increase of 20p an hour and went up a grade

Everything is so expensive - and I’m in a relatively good position compared to others but I’m delaying having children because I’m not sure how we would afford the cost.

I earn well (just over 60k) based in the midlands but my mortgage is extortionate because I have a 5% interest rate as I bought in 2024, paying over £1.3k per month on housing before any bills are paid. I have to pay for a private dental subscription as when I moved back to the midlands, no NHS dentist had avaliable. Public transport swallows at least £100 of my wage to commute into city centre and it’s only a 15 minute journey away. I run a second hand 13 plate car but petrol costs are still £50 a month. On top of that I have a plan 2 student loan that takes away at least £300 of my income per month which is a kicker as the interest added outstrips any of the payments I’m making.

I can’t believe my grandparents retired from factory roles at 50 and are still living on very good pensions at 83 and 85. We’ve gone really wrong somewhere!

Those at the top of a company earn far, far too much compared to those at the bottom. There was a company back in the day - can’t remember which one - which had the rule that the top earner could earn no more than 20x the bottom earner. That gives a degree of social contract. But now the top earners can earn an obscene amount.

I really don’t understand how it could be so low. This was advertised no more than a month/6 weeks ago and it was definitely £22k for a full time role.

But what risks have the people at the bottom taken? Running a company comes with a massive risk attached as over half of all new businesses started fail within the first 5 years. Cue homes getting repossessed, stress, relationship breakdown, etc. Plus you get no sick pay, no paid holiday, work all hours etc. If the rewards were not there (which often they are not), then no-one would start a business and there would be no-one to employ anyone else.

People get paid for the value they bring. If the founder of a multimillion pound business created the whole thing then why shouldn't they pay themselves what the business can afford? Nothing is stopping you starting your own business by the way, and if you haven't (despite moaning about those that have), then why not?

I’m not minimum wage but it keeps creeping up. No pay rises for us in the middle as the NMW increased. In the next couple of years, I bet I will be in line with NMW

If it's a multimillion pound business and they're paying themselves mega wages then they should be able to pay their staff above minimum wage rather than the bare minimum they can get away with paying!

This is nothing to do with people who start businesses, take risks etc. I’m talking about employees. 20x the salary of the bottom earner is a reasonable ratio, in my opinion. before it indicates exploitation of lower-paid staff. Of course the top earners get sick pay, holiday pay, pension pay etc etc. They’re employees, like everyone else and they have to perform their role satisfactorily like everyone else.

It’s because the unions have disappeared in the private sector.

Exactly the same experience here. The job I did in 2003 paid £36k. It pays £38k now. And yet our council tax has more than doubled (same house) as have utilities. Food is three times as expensive and don't get me started on cars.

I think companies have got a fucking cheek practically paying the same for a job that they did 23 years ago! The thing is, while people happily and gratefully work for that amount of pay, nothing will change.

Personally I'd rather be on benefits than accept a pittance from an employer

Can we be honest with ourselves about the standard of living we want though? Look around you.. nearly every house has a car or 2! Alot of houses with nice next furniture and lovely composite doors... The latest smartphone (although this is decreasing) and lots of expensive skincare/make up products.. lovely branded clothing and nice trips away...

Im generalising and no doubt some of you will disagree but we have a situation where wages cant keep up with a standard of living we want... so maybe our expectations need to come down to what the money will cover...

No, I’m in a pricey bit of London and don’t recognise that at all. Most people don’t have cars, no-one would dream of a composite door. No-one cares about skin care or branded clothing etc etc.