Imagine if someone came up to you and started talking about money: "Hello, good to meet you. What do you do for a living? Oh, that sounds interesting. How much do you make? Do you get a pension? Are you investing in the stock market? You are? Great! What mutual funds and stocks do you own? Wait, you're not diversified? Let me tell you what you need to do!"
A dialogue like that could unlock all sorts of promising insights and opportunities. But at the same time, it sounds almost impossible. We've come to a point where it's generally considered inappropriate or even rude to discuss your income. In an attempt to change that, Redditor u/BigPlunk asked other platform users, "What is your job and how much do you get paid?"
Surprisingly, many of them replied! Gotta love the transparency and honesty of some people.
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I’m a bum and get $120 a week donating plasma, but plot twist I have an interview at the plasma place tomorrow.
Update: I went to the interview, they called and asked to push it back to 3pm which was completely fine as they had gotten their truck in. The interview went well, and I answered the questions as best as I could. They said it would be full time Monday-Friday 1pm-9:30pm and every other weekend 6am-4:30pm starting at $13-14 an hour. I hope to hear back from them in the next few days, as they mentioned getting my ID, Social Security Card, and High School Diploma so they could make copies.
I’m a farmer. My earnings are flirting with the breadline, but I have very little bills and my life is overall very happy and fulfilling
u/BigPlunk came up with the idea for their post through browsing Reddit. "I had been reading in the r/AntiWork subreddit about companies trying to shut down employees who were discussing their wages," they told Bored Panda.
"I was thinking about how secrecy about the money we make only benefits the companies and not the workers. I was thinking about how inflation without wage increases means that workers are actually taking a pay decrease and how discussing wages more openly might lead to more wage increases. I could go on about this topic quite a lot as it is something that has been top of mind for some time now."
NYC roll off dumpster driver under a Teamster union contract. $40 an hour in January + medical and pension paid 100% by my employer. There’s guaranteed overtime too, so gross around $130k + the other perks. We also get a 100k severance payout the day we retire. I have a bachelors in business, but fell in love with being outside all day. I also sell scrap metal if I can collect it and I have a thriving eBay business from other things I find in the dumpsters. Made another 20-25k doing that on the side.
It's ridiculous that some workers don't see the value of unions. Pay a small amount of dues every month. Pay attention to union call to action events and support them as best you can. Get a fantastic wage and competitive benefits. The end result is in your favor.
I do research with brain cells, HIV, cocaine, and fentanyl. $29,500/year aka ~$14/hr. Yes I'm sad that this is what a Master's degree got me.
I work in a leadership role in a commcial department of a SAAS company in Europe and I almost feel ashamed now. My salary is around 3 times that money.....Can't belive this is true.
After going through the comments, u/BigPlunk People thought people were generally quite eager to share how much they made.
"It seems as though many people want more transparency about wages," they said. "Many people were also saying that they wanted more specific information, including which country/state/province people were living and working in and whether they had healthcare/benefits provided. I think that this thread was the start of a larger conversation."
I'm a teacher in Zimbabwe. I make $150 (USD) per month. $150 is not enough. We’re just living day by day.
Officer on a container ship work about 6 months out of the year and make about 120k. For the most part my job is looking out a window at some waves.
The OP agrees that it has been made culturally inappropriate to discuss wages. But mostly because that would largely result in higher wages for all.
"It means there would be no more paying employee A and employee B different amounts to do the same job. Transparency in wages would likely result in issues like racism and ageism and sexism becoming more obvious," they said.
" I have been posting a lot lately on LinkedIn about the need for companies to include salary ranges and detailed compensation packages as part of job postings. Everyone claims 'competitive compensation' in their postings, yet very few are competitive enough to actually throw out a number. I think that many companies that do post a salary range tend to post a very wide range and then hire on the lower side of it."
Entrepreneur, negative 10k per year
Thank you for the honesty. Entrepreneurship is grossly glorified.
Emt 15/hr
Edit: u guys need to realize, I’m on the high end. 15/hr is starting wage here and that’s freaking nuts. I seriously met a guy who worked 20+ years as an advanced EMT over in Tennessee and he was legit making 10.50 an hour. The dude was 48 on, 24 off.
Actually y’all think I’m doing rough? Check out wildland firefighters haha
that is so sad. what does it tell us abot a society when jobs like that are getting salaries like this?
carpenter here, 67$ an hour with including my benefits.
Any bets this is union? (Edited to add, due to comments, okay, fine, it could be any carpenter. )
I am a paraprofessional in an elementary school. I spend most of my time in a self contained Kindergarten - 5th grade classroom of mostly "non verbal" students with autism. (Occasionally I float to other classrooms) I make around 20k a year. I love my job, but the pay is insulting.
This is insultingly low. Especially for the care and attention this requires.
I work at a recycling plant, I get $35 an hour to stand at a conveyer belt picking out glass
Damn. Reading some of these posts of people with really important jobs with very fancy degrees makes me feel drastically overpaid. I’m a dog walker/pet sitter/Gal Friday. $25-$50/hr. I average about 75k a year. Wear yoga pants and t-shirts to work every day, listen to my AirPods and do my Pimsleur while working, leave time in the middle of the day between my appointments for my violin/cello lessons each week, and am usually stoned most of the day. Love my job. No real benefits so paying for those myself eats into my profit margin, but the total lack of stress or any type of management for my line of work totally makes up for it. I honestly don’t feel like I work. It feels like I wake up and f**k around all day for really good money.
UPS package sorter at a warehouse, 22$ an hour plus time and a half pay for anything over 5 hour shift in a single day (so for example one shift is 5 hours if I work two shifts in a row the second one would be 33$ an hour)
Unlimited overtime too so if I really really wanted to I could triple shift everyday for an entire week (that would be like 15 hours straight everyday working though) and get a months worth of money in a single check
I did UPS in college. Good work for part-time employees and decent benefits while in school. Never have to talk to anyone and all you do is put packages either on or off a truck. Small sort is the best though. Small packages and you just organize them by postal code.
i just started a new job as a software engineer with 384k total comp. to be honest i don’t really know what to do with most of my money besides caring for my aging parents and saving. i feel very lucky and privileged to be here.
Underwater Welder. 296k annually.
sounds fair. not only is it dangerous, these guys are making sure that ships or docksides stay in use, so they are preventing outtages that are extremely costly, I suppose....
13 year old here, I take out the trash and take out of the dishwasher at home and get paid 78 dollars a month or 936 dollars a year by my mom.
I’ve never understood this. The 13 year old lives in the household right? So why should they get paid for doing something that benefits them too? Not judging any type of parenting, I’m just curious why, instead of paying them to do unusual chores that don’t necessarily benefit them, like babysitting a sibling or raking leaves, parents pay them to throw out the trash that would stink up the house for the teen too
Licensed Nursing Assistant for a Home Care Agency- $13.50/hr. It’s embarrassingly underpaid, but the girl I take care of is so incredibly sweet (18F with cerebral palsy - nonverbal). Being able to help her and her family out means more to me than my actual paycheck.
Private jet captain. Varies with overtime, but this year will be around $360k.
I work in a steel mill that heats steel bars to a certain hardness. I get paid 18$ an hour and so far we haven’t had anyone die for a year (that’s a record)
Not just injured. Haven’t had anyone DIE for a year. For just $18/hour! 😳
Master of the custodial arts. $17.50/h.
This should be higher pay. I hate custodial work and appreciate anyone who can do it.
Inspect nuclear reactors under contract, ~$100k/yr but only work 10 weeks a year
I’m a line cook / manager for a busy restaurant, and I get paid $19 an hour +tip share + profit share from two recipes of mine on the menu.
Profit share is a nice touch. I don't think many restaurants credit their recipe creators like that.
Artificial intelligence/computer vision. About $230k.
I’m an English teacher in charity organization. 6$/h
How can this be?!? Isn't that below minimum wage even in the US?!?
Vet tech, $15/hr in Utah. Getting a raise later this month tho!
Senior IT analyst, a little under $100k. Not bad for a GED recipient.
Air Traffic Controller. Around $100k
Paraprofessional at an elementary school in a classroom with students who have autism. I get paid $19.70 an hour plus a $70 monthly stipend for helping the kids with toilet duties.
Freelance Video Editor. $500-$600/day. "Bad" year I make 40-50k per year. Great year are 95k-110K.
Here, this’ll surprise some folks: I’m a librarian (hence the user name), and I earn right around $100K with full benefits.
But I’m in the Bay Area, and that’s with a Master’s Degree + 15 years of experience. So it’s not all that impressive in context.
School Psychologist for public schools. $125,000 for 180 days. Full benefits and retirement. Never ending professional development for licensure renewal. Took me 35 years to get this salary. Started at $40,000 in 1986. Public educators are on a graduated pay scale.
So twice the median income when you started and twice the median income now.
I’m a lab analyst for a microbiology lab, doing sample testing and environmental monitoring in a germ-free environment where hospital drugs are made. I make $18 an hour. Not bad, but the stress of the job combined with the fact that it’s on the low end of the wage of these sort of jobs means I’m looking for other options.
I'm a lab tech working in cell biology, I make around 21 euros an hour, 44k a year :) Quite okay from what I understand.
Professor, Stem. ~$85-105k per year depending on grants I bring in.
When I was working on my dissertation I taught one class, US History, for four semesters. Both pre-1865 and post-1865. This was at a private university that charged, at that time, 1200 dollars a semester hour. They paid me 1500 bucks for the entire semester, which is 3 months, more or less but I did get free faculty parking. So there was that.
EMT/Security for a tribal casino, graveyard shift, $18/hr. I've seen things you wouldn't believe.
Drive yard truck for Walmart. Make 10k a month or 120k a year
I'm head of HR and Finances at a national political party (non-US). I make about 60k a year (before taxes).
Might take up walking dogs as a side gig, after reading this thread.
Finance, basically Excel for a living. 95k$ per year taxes and health insurance already deducted.
Front end Web developer. Between my job and side business coding small business websites I do about $120k a year. Hoping to double that by next year.
Yes, JavaScript is so much fun... It brings tears to your eyes.
I do whatever needs to be done around the warehouse that doesn't require a forklift. $19/hour
Toddler lead teacher. Just got a raise from 9.65 (minimum wage) to 10.50 but not because I’m valued, because we’re so severely understaffed and everyone that walks through walks right back out once they learn how low the wage is. Don’t blame them one bit.
People work to make money and some jobs are just not affordable for them. You'd think that if people keep walking out saying "I can't afford to work here.", some manager making at $100K would connect the dots and raise the wages.
Restaurant Manager for a well known “Breasturant”…$75k base salary and $20-$25k in annual bonuses
Street Magician. It depends, location and season are the biggest factors. I can make anywhere from $300-$3k a week.
Disabled Veteran 30k a year
Walmart stocker, $15/hour, about $20,000 a year.
Not a disrespect, but honestly: how can you live with that in the US?
Wendy’s Crew Member, $9 normal hours, $10 when I close. If I become an ambassador I could make $12 an hour but that’s a lot of work. I work the grill usually and they say I’m the best at it not including the managers and one of the ambassadors.
Nightclub Director. Las Vegas. 100k base. 100k tip pool. 150k performance bonus.
And the other perks
Substitute Teacher, $40.57 an hour
Sustainability consultant, 40k.
It's an entry-level position I got right after graduating. I mostly do life cycle assessment and environmental impact assessment. Very fulfilling job but also pretty stressful.
Lol have fun with those soil and water samples 😂😂😂 glad to see base pay has gone up.
Project Manager in the wireless telecommunications industry and I make $95k a year. I live in the Northern California area.
I also am a part time horse photographer (because I love it) and I make an additional $20-25k at that.
Nuclear plant electrician 50 an hour, 130-150k a year depending on Ot/bonus. Moving into an operations role in the plant soon
Strip Club DJ. Gross around $65k doing three nights a week.
Litigator. $225k
Design - $100/hr - websites, art direction for marketing campaigns, all contract work currently so it’s either a feast or a famine
Oil refinery guy, 150k/yr; union job; 401k and pension; good benefits.
Senior Hardware engineer for a tech company. Everything said and done I’ll make about 270k this year including benefits.
I work factory for a smaller company that makes mcdonald’s buns i’m quality control. 60k yr
English prof, 45k and I teach 4 different classes each semester, supervise MA students, do research, and serve on a bunch of committees/do service for the university. :(
Welder- $25 hourly
Hopefully I can up that wage when I start working union soon.
Manager of a Cannabis Dispensary $17hr
$26.51/hr OT at $46/hr after 76hrs fortnightly.
What do I do? Milk cows and act as a farm hand doing what ever the owners of the dairy want.
What's funny is besides the owners wife, my partner and I are the only ones here tht have a professional degree and have any business experience.
Will miss the money when my visa runs outs and I have to go home.
Paramedic in the UK
£17.50ish/hr after shift overruns and unsocial hours pay I make in the neighbourhood of £43,000 per annum.
I'm making about the same in NY but with crap benefits. We don't get any pension, life assurance, income protection, critical illness, health cash, employee assistance, retirement or childcare. Technically I have healthcare, but I pay an extra $150 a month for it and have a $6,000 deductible. Since you don't live in a dystopian capitalistic hellscape I'll explain a deductible. A deductible is part of a healthcare plan that they don't pay. Any care I need up to the cost of 6k every dime is out of pocket. It's ... not great.
I'm a university student and I have a part-time job as a lifeguard. I get paid $23 an hour which is pretty good.
Exchange rates are meaningless. We need to give these salaries in Big Macs. I'll tell you why. In the example I give above, our president gets around 200k per annum, which is lower than some of the people here doing relatively ordinary jobs. However, that salary here is huge and will buy a huge luxury house, several luxury cars, etc. So it's kinda meaningless unless you compare prices of normal daily items. Hence the Big Mac index. So for example, according to google, a big mac in NY is $5. Here it's ZAR 40 or $2.60. In our biggest city. So the *actual* exchange rate ought to be 7.8 : 1, not 15:1. So on that reckoning, our president's salary's buying power is actually more like $400k per year. To give a contrasting example, a floor cleaner might get about ZAR 2500/month or $166 per month. But if you factor in burgernomics, it's actually closer to $253/month. Still very low. Not giving your location is a bit meaningless.
Exchange rates are meaningless. We need to give these salaries in Big Macs. I'll tell you why. In the example I give above, our president gets around 200k per annum, which is lower than some of the people here doing relatively ordinary jobs. However, that salary here is huge and will buy a huge luxury house, several luxury cars, etc. So it's kinda meaningless unless you compare prices of normal daily items. Hence the Big Mac index. So for example, according to google, a big mac in NY is $5. Here it's ZAR 40 or $2.60. In our biggest city. So the *actual* exchange rate ought to be 7.8 : 1, not 15:1. So on that reckoning, our president's salary's buying power is actually more like $400k per year. To give a contrasting example, a floor cleaner might get about ZAR 2500/month or $166 per month. But if you factor in burgernomics, it's actually closer to $253/month. Still very low. Not giving your location is a bit meaningless.
