Still necessary to quiet-quit at $48K and keep looking for openings in competing companies.
According to a How Money Works video (a while ago), tech companies stopped paying for training or promoting from within, so employees just started keeping their résumé current, and keeping an eye on openings. As a result, companies actually paid more to fill their middle-management positions than if they kept on promoting from within.
It is scary just how incompetent top-down companies are at maximizing their profits, especially considering how much data-driven research there is on human resources.
Depends on the position. Most people are hourly, but the annual is still used as a shorthand. Salaried workers aren’t paid by the hour, but to get a job done.
You generally don’t want to be salaried, because while it sounds like you can come and go as you please, most salaried positions have mandatory office hours. So you still work at least 40 hours a week, but don’t get paid for overtime.
There are laws regarding who can be salaried. The technical term is being FLSA Exempt, and the employee has to make a certain amount of money ($684/week), and have a role that classifies. Examples include executive, managerial (need a certain number of reports to classify), administrative, and highly-compensated employees ($107,432/yr).
Working in the US, I was salaried and they absolutely fucked employees from both ends on the deal. We weren’t paid hourly yet were expected to work a minimum number of hours, then were expected to work more hours without compensation as needed, and it was needed often. Every salaried employee I have met without interest in securing a promotion put in the absolute minimum amount of time and effort possible.
Yes, the company I’m at all employees are on a yearly salary. It simplifies accounting because you don’t me d to tally timecards and have unique payroll each period.
Most desk jobs in the US are salaried. Salaries are quoted typically in annual terms, although payroll is processed typically fortnightly (meaning salary payments are transferred into your account every two weeks, usually on Thursday or Wednesday).
The US Bureau of Labour Statistics collects salary data across hundreds of job descriptions and reports this information regularly. Here are some median annual salaries (along with the monthly equivalent in euros) for various corporate jobs:
Human Resources Specialists: $75,940 (€5,900 monthly)
Buyers and Purchasing Agents: $77,710 (€6,040 monthly)
Budget Analysts: $91,640 (€7,120 monthly)
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists: $78,760 (€6,120)
Paralegals and Legal Assistants: $62,890 (€4,890)
Lawyers: $159,670 (€12,410)
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Service Sales Agents: $78,660 (€6,110)
Real Estate Brokers: $73,220 (€5,690)
Billing and Posting Clerks: $48,500 (€3,770)
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: $47,540 (€3,690)
Computer Systems Analysts: $105,850 (€8,220)
Network and Computer Systems Administrator: $99,130 (€7,700)
I would add a couple caveats on your points about sick time and insurance. It’s become more common for states to pass laws requiring sick time, but their are still now federal job protections for long term illness, with FMLA if you’re out for a long term illness, but that only protects you from losing your job for 12 weeks without pay while you deal with illness (unless you’re carrying a short-/long-term disability insurance, or your company has a policy providing pay otherwise), and also has carve outs for businesses, and your job can also ignore it if the company has employed less than 50 people in the current or previous calendar years, or you’ve worked less than 1,250 hours in the current calendar year at that job.
Also, results will vary on how good that insurance is. At a salary of $48,000/year, you’re getting a plan with a $5,000 deductible and a $20,000 out-of-pocket max. For folks from civilized nations, this means that you need to pay $5,000 a year in medical expenses before your benefits even kick in, and then an additional $15,000 need to be forked out before the insurance actually takes over and covers further care at 100%, provided it’s deemed medically necessary and approved. Note also, you’ll have a separate, higher deductible for out-of-network doctors, and you could still well be on your own after hitting your annual out of pocket max if they decide your doctor is wrong that you need a treatment, the only doctor/practice providing the service you need near you is out of network, or for any number of other reasons. And this is all on top of paying your premiums towards the plan from every paycheck.
Most office workers have decent to excellent healthcare coverage provided by the employer
lol – they have shitty healthcare coverage provided by the employer, and it’s only “decent to excellent” compared to what most other Americans get, which varies between “absolutely terrible” and “just avoid going to the doctor at all”.
Most office workers have decent to excellent healthcare coverage provided by the employer, and typically the employer pays for the majority of the cost. This ends up costing a few hundred dollars a month to the worker out of pocket for their family, typically.
Compared to what? Because I still have to pay to see the doctor. And for supplies. And a whole bunch of other stuff that isn’t covered.
And a few hundred a month? Yeah, good luck with that d-tier insurance.
Definitely the most common. Though it is more for showing off how big of a number the salary is. Like the fabled “six figure salary” (100,000+) is a big goal post in many people’s mind. If it’s not salary, we tend to use hourly wage. Though that’s more often for lower amounts
Unless you’re in a high demand, low worker base trade like linemen, pipefitters, riggers, ect, and have a good union contract with lots of availability for OT. I have friends building warships in Bath for like $45/hr with 50hrs guaranteed a week, but the extra 10 are optional, so there usually more like 60 available because shlubs are cool to go home at 40, which I don’t disrespect, but man leaving that time and a half on the table is wild. If the general workplace social environment weren’t SO TOXIC I’d be working there too, but I have thin skin and really don’t like shop love until I feel part of the InGroup, which is the very toxicity I dislike. Oh the trades.
Sometimes it’s not just about money, it’s about a healthy work/life balance. I’m a union electrician and we make 68/hr in the check after benefits are paid. Our overtime is double time after 8 hours or on a weekend. The last job I did was 12 hour days 5 days a week plus 8 on Saturday and Sunday.
I turn down basically all overtime because I have a 1yo and a 3yo at home that I would rather spend my time with. I don’t need the overtime to pay my bills so I’d rather be present in their lives and not be the dad that missed their kids grow up because they were constantly chasing more money.
In 10 years nobody’s gonna remember all the extra hours and shifts you put in at your job. Your boss won’t care, nobody will. But your kids will remember.
I’m in software development, it’s always been expressed in euro/month for me. Sometimes you see yearly pop up, but then it tends to be an American company.
For those wondering
I mean, full employment for $48k is an absolute steal in this economy. This isn’t even a bad deal for the employer.
Still necessary to quiet-quit at $48K and keep looking for openings in competing companies.
According to a How Money Works video (a while ago), tech companies stopped paying for training or promoting from within, so employees just started keeping their résumé current, and keeping an eye on openings. As a result, companies actually paid more to fill their middle-management positions than if they kept on promoting from within.
It is scary just how incompetent top-down companies are at maximizing their profits, especially considering how much data-driven research there is on human resources.
Are annual salaries a typical US thing? Rarely see this here in Europe.
Depends on the position. Most people are hourly, but the annual is still used as a shorthand. Salaried workers aren’t paid by the hour, but to get a job done.
You generally don’t want to be salaried, because while it sounds like you can come and go as you please, most salaried positions have mandatory office hours. So you still work at least 40 hours a week, but don’t get paid for overtime.
There are laws regarding who can be salaried. The technical term is being FLSA Exempt, and the employee has to make a certain amount of money ($684/week), and have a role that classifies. Examples include executive, managerial (need a certain number of reports to classify), administrative, and highly-compensated employees ($107,432/yr).
Working in the US, I was salaried and they absolutely fucked employees from both ends on the deal. We weren’t paid hourly yet were expected to work a minimum number of hours, then were expected to work more hours without compensation as needed, and it was needed often. Every salaried employee I have met without interest in securing a promotion put in the absolute minimum amount of time and effort possible.
They were going to at least raise the minimum salary for exempt employees by like double starting in 2025, but then 2025 happened…
Yes, the company I’m at all employees are on a yearly salary. It simplifies accounting because you don’t me d to tally timecards and have unique payroll each period.
Most desk jobs in the US are salaried. Salaries are quoted typically in annual terms, although payroll is processed typically fortnightly (meaning salary payments are transferred into your account every two weeks, usually on Thursday or Wednesday).
The US Bureau of Labour Statistics collects salary data across hundreds of job descriptions and reports this information regularly. Here are some median annual salaries (along with the monthly equivalent in euros) for various corporate jobs:
I would add a couple caveats on your points about sick time and insurance. It’s become more common for states to pass laws requiring sick time, but their are still now federal job protections for long term illness, with FMLA if you’re out for a long term illness, but that only protects you from losing your job for 12 weeks without pay while you deal with illness (unless you’re carrying a short-/long-term disability insurance, or your company has a policy providing pay otherwise), and also has carve outs for businesses, and your job can also ignore it if the company has employed less than 50 people in the current or previous calendar years, or you’ve worked less than 1,250 hours in the current calendar year at that job.
Also, results will vary on how good that insurance is. At a salary of $48,000/year, you’re getting a plan with a $5,000 deductible and a $20,000 out-of-pocket max. For folks from civilized nations, this means that you need to pay $5,000 a year in medical expenses before your benefits even kick in, and then an additional $15,000 need to be forked out before the insurance actually takes over and covers further care at 100%, provided it’s deemed medically necessary and approved. Note also, you’ll have a separate, higher deductible for out-of-network doctors, and you could still well be on your own after hitting your annual out of pocket max if they decide your doctor is wrong that you need a treatment, the only doctor/practice providing the service you need near you is out of network, or for any number of other reasons. And this is all on top of paying your premiums towards the plan from every paycheck.
being sick is expensive, you shouldn’t do it
Thanks for this info. I would say a 50+ km commute is fairly common in rural areas.
lol – they have shitty healthcare coverage provided by the employer, and it’s only “decent to excellent” compared to what most other Americans get, which varies between “absolutely terrible” and “just avoid going to the doctor at all”.
I learned that when they extend an offer, I ask for the health plan booklet. That can be a MAJOR cut people don’t think about.
Compared to what? Because I still have to pay to see the doctor. And for supplies. And a whole bunch of other stuff that isn’t covered.
And a few hundred a month? Yeah, good luck with that d-tier insurance.
Compared to not having insurance, where you have to pay for everything.
Stale bread is better than no bread at all
Tell me you’ve never eaten stale bread without me you’ve never eaten stale bread.
Tell me you’ve never been really hungry without me you’ve never been really hungry
Definitely the most common. Though it is more for showing off how big of a number the salary is. Like the fabled “six figure salary” (100,000+) is a big goal post in many people’s mind. If it’s not salary, we tend to use hourly wage. Though that’s more often for lower amounts
Unless you’re in a high demand, low worker base trade like linemen, pipefitters, riggers, ect, and have a good union contract with lots of availability for OT. I have friends building warships in Bath for like $45/hr with 50hrs guaranteed a week, but the extra 10 are optional, so there usually more like 60 available because shlubs are cool to go home at 40, which I don’t disrespect, but man leaving that time and a half on the table is wild. If the general workplace social environment weren’t SO TOXIC I’d be working there too, but I have thin skin and really don’t like shop love until I feel part of the InGroup, which is the very toxicity I dislike. Oh the trades.
Sometimes it’s not just about money, it’s about a healthy work/life balance. I’m a union electrician and we make 68/hr in the check after benefits are paid. Our overtime is double time after 8 hours or on a weekend. The last job I did was 12 hour days 5 days a week plus 8 on Saturday and Sunday.
I turn down basically all overtime because I have a 1yo and a 3yo at home that I would rather spend my time with. I don’t need the overtime to pay my bills so I’d rather be present in their lives and not be the dad that missed their kids grow up because they were constantly chasing more money.
In 10 years nobody’s gonna remember all the extra hours and shifts you put in at your job. Your boss won’t care, nobody will. But your kids will remember.
Idk IT in Ireland calc in those, gross salary/year. Cause you can have different taxes depending on your marriage status.
For UK and Europe it depends on the industry. I’ve always had salaried work with software development
I’m in software development, it’s always been expressed in euro/month for me. Sometimes you see yearly pop up, but then it tends to be an American company.
Are you also paid monthly or what’s the usual pay period?
am wondering what this means!?!
Yearly salaries for the listed monthly price
the annual salaries