Most underpaid profession?

Kantankrus_Mare

jjlandlord wrote: »

Chefs certainly don't work for a pittance. Now if you mean the 'cook' at your local pizza place...

Yes.....catering is very hard work and the only decent money to be made is if you are at the very top of your game.

I have been a supervisor in two types of restaurant for the past twelve years and whilst I am on more than the usual minimum wage, I am beginning to question whether its worth the hassle.

Trying to motivate staff , keep the overall manager happy and give good customer service to the general public can be difficult at the best of times.

I would like to change career but know I will be back to minimum wage at least to start with so not sure where I go from here. Oh and time isnt on my side. :cool:

milliemonster

Hooloovoo wrote: »

In addition to this, a major factor is supply-and-demand.

If there are 100 companies looking to employ someone with a certain skill-set, and 10,000 people with that skill-set then salaries will be low.

If there are 100 companies looking to employ someone with a certain skill-set, and only 99 people with that skill-set then salaries will be very high.

It's not about how hard you work. It's about putting yourself in a position to obtain rare skills and then charging a premium to those requiring them.

I am a nurse but sorry this doesn't ring true, most hospitals are now severely understaffed and can't recruit enough nurses, which is why they are going on recruitment campaigns abroad, yet they aren't willing to offer a higher pay as an incentive to recruit.

I am a highly skilled coronary care nurse, I work in a regional tertiary referral centre, one where if you have a heart attack you would be sent to as an emergency and we would aim to sort it within 90 minutes of you starting with chest pain so you don't die. Not every hospital in the country has these centres as they are so specialised, highly skilled and expensive, yet in the trusts eyes that I work for, I am 'just another nurse' who they can send to any ward wherever within the trust even a specialist area of where I have no experience and be expected to care for 15+ patients on my own whom I don't know, have no idea about their illnesses, the routines, the doctors and support staff etc, and be accountable for everything I do.

I don't agree that the profession is undervalued, I think the general public on the whole highly value nurses, our patients and relatives are extremely grateful for the life saving work we do and the difference we make to their lives. It is the managers and politicians who don't value us and think the extent of our remit is to make a few beds, spend half of our lives on the phone chatting and dish out a few paracetamol.

usefulmale

DKLS wrote: »

Any job where its not easy to apply a value to that role or a role that doesn't generate revenue.
What numbers could you apply to a bin man, nurse or carer?

You could do it by seeing how long it would take you to notice they had all stopped working.

If ALL the premier league footballers just stopped working today, assuming the lowest paid get 15 grand a week, and all the binmen stopped working today, each earning 15 grand a year, which would you notice first, and which would have the greatest impact on your life and community?

Catcherupper14

Beckly wrote: »

I would agree with the majority of the posts on here, especially those regarding police, nurses, care workers, teachers, fire fighters, etc.

It seems that jobs that involve an aspect of caring about people are not valued as highly as those that involve caring about material possessions.

QUOTE]


You have identified the issue exactly - any profession involved in looking after people rather than making money is underpaid.


Nurses, fire service, social workers, care workers etc.


Some in these professions can increase their earnings by undertaking lucrative private work - for example some doctors dentists etc, but many don't have that option available to them.

hardworking_mummy

redcard wrote: »

How can Police and Firemen be so severely underpaid when vacancies are so oversubscribed?

Firemen and Policemen spend most of their working day doing hardly anything.

And you based that staggeringly ignorant comment on your vast experience of both careers I take it? 4 cops on night shift for 178000 residents. Yup definitely sitting around scratching their behinds.... Hopefully you are never in need of the assistance of either of these bone idle professions because rather than saving your life, they'll probably be sat around playing patience on their mobiles....

trukdiver

Gavin83 wrote: »

The problem with all of these is that they're public sector jobs and therefore the pay will always be stunted. Increased pay will mean increased taxes.

They have very good pensions though. I'm in IT and applied for a job at the Home Office. The pay (including pension contributions) was much better than I was getting for doing the same job in the private sector.

Also, when I was in the RNR, my Navy pay rate was more than my civvy pay rate!

retepetsir

My partner is a Band 5 NHS nurse and I think she is seriously underpaid for what she goes through. The job sounds horrendous and I could never do it!

She's been qualified for just over 7 years now so it at the top of her pay band, around £27k. There are no Band 6 roles yet the ward is constantly (I'd say unsafely) understaffed, often just 1 or 2 nurses with 2 healthcare assistants for 25 beds of very ill neurological patients. It's really quite scary.

Add to that the shifts which are now 'Long Days', so 7.30am-8.30pm or a 12 hour nightshift.

She likes the care side of things but hates the bureaucracy and paperwork that goes with the job.

I certainly couldn't do it!

pattojones

I am a Registered Nurse in the RAF. I've been qualified 14 years in the New Year. My speciality is Theatre & Anaesthetics. I have completed 2 full diplomas and an honours degree so far with a plan to start an MSc in the New Year.

I have deployed 6 times in total to Iraq, Afghanistan, etc in either an Aeromed role or scrubbing/co-ordinating shifts in busy operating theatres (950 surgical cases in 15 weeks with 2 teams of 11 for 24/7 cover on 4 operating tables-very busy!).

I am 'retiring' after 18.5 years in 18 months at 40yrs of age. The biggest worry for me personally is can I find a challenging/interesting job which pays anything like what I earn now? I doubt it. Nursing is an amazing career/experience but the pay is dreadful. My advice to anyone considering it is 'think twice'.

retepetsir

pattojones wrote: »

I am a Registered Nurse in the RAF. I've been qualified 14 years in the New Year. My speciality is Theatre & Anaesthetics. I have completed 2 full diplomas and an honours degree so far with a plan to start an MSc in the New Year.

I have deployed 6 times in total to Iraq, Afghanistan, etc in either an Aeromed role or scrubbing/co-ordinating shifts in busy operating theatres (950 surgical cases in 15 weeks with 2 teams of 11 for 24/7 cover on 4 operating tables-very busy!).

I am 'retiring' after 18.5 years in 18 months at 40yrs of age. The biggest worry for me personally is can I find a challenging/interesting job which pays anything like what I earn now? I doubt it. Nursing is an amazing career/experience but the pay is dreadful. My advice to anyone considering it is 'think twice'.

Sounds very exciting!

pattojones

Not really. When married with kids it becomes quite irritating.