21 Professions That People Believe Are "Disgustingly Overpaid" Given What Their Job Description Is
Have you ever found out someone's salary and then thrown up in your mouth?
Network 10 / giphy.com
Ya know, from it being so surprisingly and disturbingly much?
DreamWorks Pictures / giphy.com
Well recently, Redditor u/phageslayer posted in r/AskReddit asking which professions people think are the MOST overpaid, and the internet had a LOOOOOOOT of thoughts. For your reading pleasure, here they are:
1."Realtors."
"The fees they charge are from 20 years ago when 3.5% and 1.75% were based on homes that cost $100K to $400K. With current prices, the fees make no sense. How many assets have a 2% transaction cost?"
"My brother-in-law is a realtor in Canada. He’s 23. Thanks to the recent surge in home prices and the fact that their income is based on percentage of commission, he now makes over $500K per year. Seriously, put aside all of the other crap about whether realtors are useful or necessary or whatever else. They are overpaid. Period. A 5% commission when houses that used to be $250K are now $1 million is absolutely beyond."
2."College sports coaches."
"The head football coach at my college led the team through some of the team’s worst years, typically winning fewer than five games per season. He was paid $2M per year plus bonuses."—ExtrapolatedData
3."School chancellors."
"The chancellor at my small <10k student university got paid $400K a year and a house on campus. That’s as much as the president — the guy who runs a fucking country. (I used past tense but only because I left uni a year ago. I imagine he’s paid more now.)"
"The higher-ups definitely are overpaid, but as always, the people doing the actual work are woefully underpaid. Some of my administration coworkers barely make $30K, but do the work of three people. When we luck into a highly paid administrator who will actually answer emails, go to events, talk to students etc, they never stay for more than a few years."
4."Medical administration."
"As a pharmacy student, medical administration has a WILD amount of overhead costs and take about 90% of the cut, with the last 10% actually being given to the doctors, nurses, and pharmacists involved, etc."
"I’m a doctor. I get paid fairly, but I don’t get paid enough to deal with these dimwits. They don’t understand how things work in the hospital and sit in useless meetings. All. Day. Long. It’s more frustrating when I learn how much they make."
5."Social media influencers."
"I think it's funny that a lot of social media influencers make enough to wear a different designer outfit each day. I feel like I missed out on a real-life cheat code."
6."Executives of most companies."
"They supposedly get paid massive amounts because they will be held responsible for the performance of the company and...they're never held responsible for the performance of the company..."
7."Music executives."
"They don't have an ounce of talent, but will make money off of the talent of someone else. It's a disgusting thing to see."
8."Big-time preachers (think Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland)."
9."Talking heads on cable and network news."
10."Bartenders."
"As a bartender, I would say we are technically overpaid — not by the company, of course. I work about three six-hour shifts a week, and I make more money than most everybody I know in my direct life."
"My aunt has been a bartender for 20+ years. She has three cars, a nice house, put my cousin through college, and still pays her car insurance and cellphone bill. She always buys awesome, expensive gifts for holidays and birthdays — and she supports my grandma when she needs more than her retirement can afford. I've heard from a lot of people she is the best at her job!"
"When I ran a small restaurant group, our two main bartenders made $78K and $92K in declared tips one year. That is declared tips, as in credit card and reported cash tips. One of the bartenders was able to buy a riverfront house in cash at one point."
11."Insurance brokers."
12."The Canadian 'Language Police.'"
"Here in Quebec, Canada, we have something called the 'Language Police.' They go around and make sure fonts on signs are more pronounced in French than in English. They make $80K a year. 😑"
13."Chiropractors."
"At best, they provide a therapeutic massage. At worst, they can actually aggravate an injury. It's one of the biggest loads of bullshit in the medical community. No wonder they tell you they can cure whatever ails you...as long as you pre-pay 20 sessions at $150 a pop (NO REFUNDS!)."
14."Pharmaceutical reps."
"When I left 15 years ago, I was bringing in over $120K per year, and on an average day, I would work five hours — including at least 45 minutes for lunch. Four times a year, I would be flown to some four-star resort location where we would have sales meetings, dinners at the most expensive places in town, pricey after-dinner drinks in the hotel bars, and hook-ups with co-workers in the room. I left because I had a real problem with my employer buying $800 bottles of wine for docs and calling it 'research and development.'"
15."Professional stock portfolio managers."
"99% of them do not outperform indexes and they contribute no real goods or services."
16."Management consultants."
"I'm 25 and make $250K. That's ignoring incredible benefits, too, like no-premium health insurance, profit share, etc. It's wild. There are people at my firm between the ages of 25-30 who make well over $1M a year. The work is tough, and you need to be extremely intelligent and hardworking to get in, but man. My output is not worth $250K a year."
17."Public school administrators."
"Administrative staff (principal, vice principal, etc.) in public schools earn a ridiculous salary, usually somewhere above $110K, while teachers actually teaching the classes on average earn under $55K. It's legitimately bonkers. It's almost common practice in the industry to attempt to work in administrative during the last three years you are employed to boost your pension, as that is typically what your pension will be based off, often doubling pension amounts."
18."Professional athletes."
"I understand the principle behind athletes' pay (and also the backend that they actually see maybe a third of their contract), but comparing that to some other jobs, like nurses/teachers/EMTs/etc., is wild, considering what they both do."
19."Politicians."
"Either take a salary or live on the bribes, not both."
20.And lastly: "Celebrities in general."
"I do not see any reason why an actor needs to be paid multimillion dollars for one project that likely takes them less than a year to do."
"They get paid not because their work is intrinsically valuable, but because it is marketable and can be used to make even more money. For example, it seems outlandish that a studio might pay Chris Pratt to appear in another Jurassic Park movie. But if having Pratt in it means a likely $100M in profits and more long-term franchise hype (and thus value) instead of a less popular actor and $25M in profits, then yeah, paying that much sure seems worth it."
Quotes have been edited for length and/or clarity.
