Primetime 24/11: Since when is 55,000 not a good wage?

10.4K for how many hours a week?

_Kooli_ wrote: »

Im not saying he doesnt do a good job and shouldnt be respected for it. Im saying its his choice not to follow the money, so not to feel hard done by by others who did make the right choices to get to the money. If he wants to be paid more, then find out how to take your career along a path that will get you more.

Some might say that a job is not about the money. Fair enough for them, but if they say that they lose the right to criticize others who make more money than them. And from reading the posts everywhere for the last year, it seems that for everyone its about the money (or more about that someone else is making more money than them). People dont like seeing others earning more than them.

My point is really that it's a national failure that professions such as engineering and science get little respect and little financial reward (outside possibly civil engineers in construction during the boom) for their studies in Ireland, a country that promotes itself (falsely IMO) as a 'knowledge economy' whereas professions which involve moving money around and minimising tax liabilities, or legal professions (neither of which actually lead to the betterment of human life, society or anything really) make a great deal more money in Ireland. I believe it's symptomatic of the nature of the country that professions who do things that don't really benefit society as a whole get rewarded to a much higher degree than a scientist developing a new drug treatment etc. It's sad to me. An engineer in Germany would be just as likely to take home as good or better a salary as their equivalent of a solicitor or an accountant. It shows a different outlook on life and what is important for Germany (developing things) as opposed to what is important for Ireland (avoiding things).

I'm not disputing for a second that the poster could have made the choice to be another solicitor or accountant (the world does need them to a degree) and made more money, just that it's sad that these professions earn so much more in Ireland relative to people who create new things to make life easier for us all.

_Kooli_ wrote: »

You are right about the cost of living here. It is too high.

I noticed you are not happy that your sister did 3 years less than you and gets paid more.

Simply, You chose the wrong career. Should have followed your sister or took a career path that paid you more in the private sector.

If you had picked certain jobs in the private sector you could be easily getting paid 35k + after 3 years in uni too.

The length of time you spend on a masters has absolutely nothing to do with how much you earn. Its your ability to forge a career and make the changes required which will mive you up the scale.

Its amazing how people think that others get paid more than them are somehow lucky. Its about choices and work (on your career, not necessarily just your job or education).

Your future is in your own hands. Dont be afraid to make changes that benefit you.


Complaining about how much others get paid wont get you paid anymore.

thing is people working in the public sector weren't necessarily choosing the job because of the pay.. it was the security and the pension..coupled with the fact that since the founding of the state other than farming or emigration there weren't many other attractive employment choices.

now in the most recent decade in addition to the favourable terms and conditions the public sector also wanted increased pay.

I felt that the rates of increase in public sector pay was excessive and now it appears that they can not be sustained.

as Murphaph says Ireland should be trying to encourage our young and talented to go into the science and IT professions ... the so-called smart economy .. rather than giving them additional encouragement to go straight into safe and secure public sector jobs and the professions.

_Kooli_ wrote: »

All part of the renumeration. We all could have chosen the public sector if we wanted.

The private sector has been cleaning up for many years now. If you put yourself in a position where you are in demand you will still have a job and be well paid in it. If you didnt and left yourself open to an economic crash with no get out - well look in the mirror for blame. Dont look at others with jobs they chose years ago and envy them.

Well either way, the country is broke and can no longer afford to maintain the current pay levels in the public sector. You can't have one section of society getting it in the neck while being expected to fund another section that thinks they should be immune from the economic downturn. I think there would be an awful lot less aggro and begrudgery from the private sector if we weren't hearing sob stories from civil servants on 55k a year claiming they can no longer maintain the kind of yuppie lifestyle which they had become accustomed to.

As for "supply and demand"...choosing the right career and all that. Well many of us did think long and hard about the career we chose. People in the building industry thought that was a safe bet during this decade. People in IT thought that was a safe career choice during the previous decade. People also thought teaching would be a safe bet, and now there is 800 unemployed teachers. So it turns out it can be very hard to predict what the economic future will look like. Some of us got lucky, and some of us didn't. Don't think it might not happen to yourself someday no matter how indispensable you think you might be at the moment.

_Kooli_ wrote: »

I didnt see anyone in the public sector asking for the private sector workers wages to be reduced during benchmarking.

They elected to improve their own position, instead of trying to pull the rest down. This country is so full of begrudgers its unreal. Everyone hates anyone who is doing better than themselves. Sad.

don't worry the country is full of ****-stirrers,wags and wind-up merchants too

the lunatics really would be ruling the asylum if the public sector unions were calling on private sector wages to be reduced! on the other hand I don't recall the unions asking for taxes to be increased in other to pay for themselves either :-)

RedPlanet wrote: »

sorry but i really think that's a crock of sh*te.

I recently spent a week in Paris and everything was cheaper.

hey don't shoot the messenger lads

what was the price of a pint in Paris by the way ?

I think the reason why we appear to get more bang for our buck when we go abroad is because of our relatively high wage levels in comparison to wages in the places we are visiting.

this is a reason why tourists probably don't get bang for their buck when they come here.

members of boards.ie : would we rather keep our salaries high ( which is unsustainable imo ) so that those with jobs can get more bang for their buck when they go abroad or should we try to keep our salaries low so that we are an attractive location for foreign tourists to visit and for foreign investors/MNC's to create jobs ?

good man Rossithelegend ... thanks for bringing this thread back on topic

Thanks god a bit of sanity i was worried about the reply's I'd get, different people will have different perceptions of what is acceptable, low or high standard when it comes to anything wages, working conditions etc. I'm a talker always have been always will be and I love dealing with the public where as others I know wouldn't do it for all the tea in China hence the reason that this thread could go on and on and on and NO one can really make any judgement on who deserves what, unless they know every intricate detail of their circumstances!

_Kooli_ wrote: »

If i spend €100 here i get less value for it than if i spend that €100 in London.

Nothing to do with my salary.

Of course it could be argued that my salary over the years is what drove up the cost of living. But i would get more for what i work at in London too

it relates to your salary , though more accurately ALL of our combined salaries , in that average salaries , minimum wage etc. are higher in Ireland than they are in a lot of other EU countries.
hence your €100 will buy you more goods and services in these cities then it would in Ireland

I'm not an economist but I do know that wages and prices are linked.

_Kooli_ wrote: »

You are right about the cost of living here. It is too high.

I noticed you are not happy that your sister did 3 years less than you and gets paid more.

Simply, You chose the wrong career. Should have followed your sister or took a career path that paid you more in the private sector.

If you had picked certain jobs in the private sector you could be easily getting paid 35k + after 3 years in uni too.

The length of time you spend on a masters has absolutely nothing to do with how much you earn. Its your ability to forge a career and make the changes required which will mive you up the scale.

Its amazing how people think that others get paid more than them are somehow lucky. Its about choices and work (on your career, not necessarily just your job or education).

Your future is in your own hands. Dont be afraid to make changes that benefit you.


Complaining about how much others get paid wont get you paid anymore.

I don't accept that I chose the wrong career, teaching and PS life was definately not for me I subbed in a primary school for a short time when I had a bit of a break from work after travelling and know that. I like what I do and wouldn't want a job in the public sector. Like many others I was unlucky in that I was in good employment up until recently enough and lost out due to the recession. I'm not one of the "lets burn the PS at the stake" cry-baby brigade but i do think they should acknowledge what they have (secure well paid employment), higher paid PS's definately need to adjust to the new reality and people cribbing on primetime that they cant survive on 55k gets me a little annoyed i admit, and it certainly doesn't help the PS cause if they are looking for sympathy. I hope to start again in my career and will be up to a decent salary again in the future if and when we emerge from recession and companies start hiring again, but you really shouldn't tell people they chose the wrong career when you know little about what their situation is.

MaceFace wrote: »

Last time I was in Paris I paid over €9 for a pint. 9 flaming Euro.

Beer in the supermarkets is very cheap though, at least it was the last time I looked a few years ago.

Now if you really want cheap alcohol, come to Bulgaria.. 80c or so for a 500ml bottle of Heineken, the local pish even cheaper.