What do you consider a 'decent' salary (non-London)

PasturesNew

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Everybody gets 28 days leave which is only 2 days short of 6 weeks.

Ah, but that's new. For those of us who have been working for 30 years, most of it without any holiday entitlement, this whole 'paid holiday' thing is a new mindset. And, for many, who are in temping jobs, you take your holiday pay on the days an agency hasn't got any work for you, so it doesn't feel like holidays as such. In fact, many agencies pay it like that: once you finish the assignment, your accrued holiday pay is added to your last payslip.

I think the OP meant: six weeks, plus bank holidays... that's how it read.

Oldernotwiser

PasturesNew wrote: »

Ah, but that's new. For those of us who have been working for 30 years, most of it without any holiday entitlement, this whole 'paid holiday' thing is a new mindset. .

I've been working for more than 30 years and cannot agree that paid holidays are new - in fact, I don't really understand what you mean. What's new is all this agency working with no paid holidays. Temping has been around for years as a short term solution but it's comparatively recently that it's become a way of life for so many people.

nikki33

jojo90 wrote: »

Hmmmm.

After working my !!! off to get 1st class BSc. and MSc. with distinction in a science from Red Brick university (all self supported) I’m finally there early! At 29!

Just out of interest are you still working in science? I have very similar qualifications to you, I am working as a scientist but only earning £21k.
Unfortunately, science is one of the most poorly paid professions, if you want to earn big money, you need a career in law or banking.
However, I'm not complaining as I love my job and I work flexi so it means that if I work extra hours I can take them back as time off.
I am also into the money saving thing allowing me to go to on a decent holiday every year. However, I am more into sightseeing than luxury holidays so I spend a lot of time pricing up flights then generally stay in budget accommodation.

jojo90_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I've been working for more than 30 years and cannot agree that paid holidays are new - in fact, I don't really understand what you mean. What's new is all this agency working with no paid holidays. Temping has been around for years as a short term solution but it's comparatively recently that it's become a way of life for so many people.

My experience is that agency or contract workers earn far more than their permanent counterparts for the same core skillset. Sure there are a number of disadvantages however the lack of 'paid leave' is more than offset through increased earning.

Looking at cwjobs.co.uk when I have an additional 2 years experience in my current role jobs @ £400+ per day will be open to me. Say I work 45 weeks per year that's £90,000 per year.

Personally I think the extra £40,000 will more than cover an unpaid 6 week holiday.

PasturesNew

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I've been working for more than 30 years and cannot agree that paid holidays are new - in fact, I don't really understand what you mean. What's new is all this agency working with no paid holidays. Temping has been around for years as a short term solution but it's comparatively recently that it's become a way of life for so many people.

I meant "paid holidays for everybody" is new.

I've temped on/off for years. Firstly in the school holidays (filing clerk then secretary and similar at ages 15/16/17), then instantly every time "between jobs". It used to be well paid, temping was something you got paid more to do than the person you were replacing. In about 1988-1990 I was earning £6.60/hour as a temp, yet now agencies are only paying £6 for the same job titles). As a temp, there never used to be any holiday pay at all, you only got paid for the hours you worked. For temps, working through agencies, they've only had paid holidays since the "paid holidays law" came out.

Many jobs I have done over the years, employed, have no had paid holidays, or have had minimum paid holidays. The new law requiring everybody to have paid holidays was because so many permanent jobs didn't have them, or were giving a minimum. The first law on paid holidays said "20 days", but even then employers had the option for that to mean "12 days plus bank holidays".

jojo90_2

nikki33 wrote: »

Just out of interest are you still working in science? I have very similar qualifications to you, I am working as a scientist but only earning £21k.
Unfortunately, science is one of the most poorly paid professions, if you want to earn big money, you need a career in law or banking.
However, I'm not complaining as I love my job and I work flexi so it means that if I work extra hours I can take them back as time off.
I am also into the money saving thing allowing me to go to on a decent holiday every year. However, I am more into sightseeing than luxury holidays so I spend a lot of time pricing up flights then generally stay in budget accommodation.

Well, to be honest I have no idea what field I truly want to work in. My first degree is in Computer Science and Software Engineering with Business Studies and my second in Natural Computation (neural networks, AI, quantum computation etc.).

I was bright enough to understand that a top grade in an IT related degree combined with working since 14 and summer placements would mean my CV went to the top of the pile. I used to like building computers and playing computer games, saw the daily rate for IT contractors while doing an admin job in Prudential's IT department, and figured I could combine my love of money with IT .

My day to day role isn't anything like I thought it would be. I'm removed from the technology and manage a large outsourced off-shore team. My role is more to abstract from all the technical gubbins that goes on and present back to the wider business in a way they can understand. I do get involved day on day with the components to resolve their issues so I do use my technical knowledge... but just don't push the buttons that make things happen!

I was offered a Phd. place but to be honest was sick of education by that point. To me it's a means to an end rather than a career choice. Having said that my lodger is a researcher and I get the impression she's loaded .

PasturesNew

jojo90 wrote: »

My experience is that agency or contract workers earn far more than their permanent counterparts for the same core skillset. Sure there are a number of disadvantages however the lack of 'paid leave' is more than offset through increased earning.

There are two types of agency/contract workers. [1] Temping through a High Street agency (lower pay) [2] Contracting, usually through your own Ltd company or under an umbrella company (higher paid but you have expenses)

jojo90 wrote: »

Looking at cwjobs.co.uk when I have an additional 2 years experience in my current role jobs @ £400+ per day will be open to me. Say I work 45 weeks per year that's £90,000 per year.

Out of that £400/day you'd also have to pay employers AND employees NI and your own holiday pay. There'd also be fees to setup/run your Ltd company, or an Umbrella Company Fee for them to do everything for you and give you a payslip. (Ignoring tax free amounts etc) if you earn £400/day then straight away under an umbrella you'd have to set aside £40 for employers NI, £40 for employees NI and £40 for your own holiday pay, dropping the rate instantly to being paid £280/day + holiday pay.

jojo90 wrote: »

Personally I think the extra £40,000 will more than cover an unpaid 6 week holiday.

Except that when you're contracting you often have less/no control over when you can take holidays because you're there for the duration of the task you've been hired to do. When the contract ends, your focus is then on getting the next job/contract, so need to get that sorted out (rather than holidaying), then suddenly you have a new start date and there's no time for a holiday

nikki33

That explains it then, you degrees are in IT not pure science. I could have added IT to my examples of well paid career choices.

RedSoleShoes

jojo90 wrote: »

Just wondering what you guys would class as a 'decent' salary? At the moment I'm 29, home-owner, single, and on £50,478 (plus £4,500 from lodger tax free)..

ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS?!!!!!!!!

You have obviously only come on here to boast. If you google 'average salary' you will find that you are way above that. Get a life and stop moaning.

I haven't read the other posts but hopefully other people feel the same!

jojo90_2

nikki33 wrote: »

That explains it then, you degrees are in IT not pure science. I could have added IT to my examples of well paid career choices.

Sorry but I completely refute that. Computer Science studies the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and their practical applications. Natural Computation takes that one step further and I was studying everything from quantum physics to biology and how these are used to create algorithms capable of solving complex calculations. This was very much a research orientated degree.

Put it this way – the university handed out a single prize for the top dissertation across all the sciences. The prize went to me while studying Computer Science & Software Engineering . So yes, it is a science. There are other ‘IT’ degrees out there if you just want to learn how to code however Computer Science is a lot more than that.

With my degrees I could go and start writing research papers for some of the big players; HP, Dell, etc. With an 'IT' degree that couldn't hapen.