The Key To Pay Satisfaction Isn’t a Bigger Salary
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Listen at schwab.com slash washingtonwise.
Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, August 23rd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. A recent survey showed that a majority of workers feel they're fairly paid. But money isn't necessarily what brings them the most happiness.
You would think people who are salaried with benefits and vacation time would be the most happy. But at the end of the day, people really like autonomy. When you're your own boss, you can control when, where, and how you work.
We'll talk to WSJ's Katie Mogg after the break.
This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab.
How does the ADP survey measure worker pay satisfaction?
Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
Is money the key to happiness?
Which type of workers reported the highest pay satisfaction and why?
Not necessarily, according to a recent survey of workers. WSJ's Katie Mogg joins me. So Katie, the payroll company ADP surveyed workers to gauge how happy they were with their pay. What was the result?
Out of the three different types of workers, part-time employees, full-time staffers, and gig workers, which are people who freelance or work independently, it was the gig workers who felt they were paid the most fairly.
And we often hear the term gig economy because of the growth of these independent workers. What's driven so many people to work for themselves over the past several years?
Yeah, you would think people who are salaried with benefits and vacation time would be the most happy. But at the end of the day, people really like autonomy. When you're your own boss, you can control when, where, and how you work. Since the pandemic brought layoffs and burnout, workers have become willing to take a pay cut for that sort of control over their lives.
They like their own schedule. Yeah. Now, you spoke with some independent workers who are happy with their pay and their work-life balance. What do they tell you?
I spoke with a man from the Boston area who used to work full time in public policy roles. He was making about $94,000 a year. But after the pandemic, he decided to work as a freelance consultant and documentary producer.
What reasons do gig workers give for accepting lower pay?
Now he only makes about $40,000. But he told me the pay cut was totally worth it because he has more time to be an involved husband and father.
Wow, that's a big pay cut.
Yeah, it is. That's less than half of what he used to make. Now he earns between $100 and $150 an hour as a consultant, and he works only 20 to 30 hours a week between that and producing a documentary. But he says his work arrangement is perfect. I also spoke to a 41-year-old man from the Washington, D.C. area. He used to work upwards of 80 hours a week as a marketing strategy executive. Now he's a freelance marketing consultant, and he works about half as much, but he still earns a six-figure salary. He loves freelancing because he has control over his own schedule, and he can work with a wide range of clients.
Are there particular fields where workers are happy?
The ADP survey shows that regardless of employment status, more than 80% of tech workers are happy with their pay. And that's more than people in any other industry. Workers in construction, real estate, and finance also said they were happy. But on the other end of the spectrum are education and healthcare workers. They were the people least happy with their pay, closely followed by people in leisure hospitality and food service. But the folks who seemed happy in my reporting tended to be professional consultants. It's an in-demand field, and freelancers are able to set their own rates, meaning they are making six-figure salaries a year, working less than they did in their full-time jobs.
You also spoke to a woman from Alabama who is now a freelance copywriter.
Yes, that woman actually used to work as a full-time middle school English teacher, but the pay was so poor that she had to move back into her parents' home just to make ends meet. After she had enough of teaching, she switched to working as a freelance copywriter.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:13
2
How does the ADP survey measure worker pay satisfaction?
1:13–1:35
3
Which type of workers reported the highest pay satisfaction and why?
1:35–2:52
4
What reasons do gig workers give for accepting lower pay?
2:52–4:52
5
How do individual freelancer stories illustrate trade-offs between pay and life?
4:52–6:15
Speakers
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