There are quite decent odds that, right now, you’re sipping a cup of coffee or a mug of tea and taking a well-deserved break from work. Maybe you love your job and find what you do to be incredibly purposeful. Maybe things are quite the opposite and you absolutely loathe what you do, hoping to jump ship at the first opportunity. Whatever the case might be, you might feel underpaid…
…and that some people at your company or elsewhere in the job industry are incredibly overpaid. The skills that we think should be valued aren’t always what’s valued the most. And it shows! Artist Aaron, aka redditor u/Airsinner, asked the internet about the jobs that they believe are definitely overvalued and overpaid, and they delivered—with a bang! Scroll down to check out their opinions.
#1
Hospital CEO’s… and actually almost all hospital upper management. There are so many layers of management that many of them barely step foot into a healthcare facility EVER, let alone EVER speak to a patient, yet all of them make 6, 7, 8 figure salaries plus mega bonuses. My hospital network CEO makes $11 million salary not including bonuses, which bothers me, but bothers me even more are all the board members and s**t directly under him making nearly as much. It’s hundreds of millions of wasted money paid to the people trying to screw staff out of good pay and screwing patients into paying big bills.
Image credits: Uajpqsa
#2
If someone else is "Regional VP" they are either drowning in responsibilities working 70 hrs a week; or they have absolutely nothing to do other than collecting a check.
Image credits: drchris6000
#3
I really hate how the brightest minds of a generation have been funneled into finance instead of science, engineering, politics, medicine and a ton of other critically useful professions because finance is where the money is.A hedge fund is just a gambling house. It makes no net contribution to society. It just moves money from one pocket to another. We, as one the whole, are not better off for its existence. That can't be said of many other professions. We don't need hedge fund managers. We need doctors.
What a waste.
Image credits: echohole5
Artist Aaron's thread went viral and it’s no wonder why. Topics about work, money, and justice are very popular. And there’s nothing quite like the injustice of being underpaid and exhausted and seeing someone putting in barely any effort and making bank to make you seriously mad at the world. The redditor found a topic that was bound to get others' attention.
The fact of the matter is that life isn’t fair. Some job positions will inevitably be overpaid while others will be underpaid. The best that society can do is reduce that gap as much as possible. We’ve written before on Bored Panda how society doesn’t necessarily value the people who contribute the most to everyone. Educators and social workers are vital to the health of our society, and yet, they’re often not who get prioritized. At least, not financially.
#4
Gillette 'engineers' - they took 5 years to go from 3 blades to 4
Image credits: plexxxy
#5
CEOs of hospitals. (I say this as a nurse who continually sees them get bonuses, despite us being short-staffed & getting 3% raises)
Image credits: AbjectZebra2191
#6
My last job in college, before starting my career. I was an overnight shelter staff for transitional housing. Since these clients were basically back up on their feet by the time they arrived, they were pretty self-sufficient. I was paid about 25% higher than other night-shift jobs I could get at the time, and on most nights all I had to do was make one pot of coffee. The rest of the time I could watch TV, play video games, do personal chores, etc… The one job that I know was better was their overnight sleeper, since we had to have two staff at all times. As implied, this dude made a well-above minimum wage rate to just sleep there on the weekends.
Image credits: EleanorSofia
The people who get paid the most tend to be those who generate the most profits. That’s why you see so many CEOs with morbidly obese paychecks. It’s a symptom of society valuing profits (ironically) more than tangible value.
Financial traders and software engineers get paid more than construction workers, artists, and farmers. They all bring something to the table, but the former work with something ephemeral while the latter work in ‘the real world.’
However, at the same time, some objectively valuable professions are rewarded very generously. For instance, in the United States, some of the best-paying jobs include anesthesiologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, obstetricians and gynecologists, surgeons, orthodontists, physicians, and psychiatrists.
These positions all earn a median salary of $208k, according to US News. Next in line are nurse anesthetists ($195.6k median wage), pediatricians ($170.5k), and pilots ($134.6k). In short, what humankind really does value are all types of medical and mental health professionals, as well as pilots.
#7
Influencer
Image credits: tomhdesign
#8
Pharmaceutical or medical sales.I’m a small scale clinician who deals with medical sales reps 5 days/week who are the [apparently] sweetest, bubbliest, most seemingly accommodating people on earth— if you buy their thing. Since your patients **need** theirs, except they’re usually not even medically qualified to make those determinations. They can’t answer medical questions relevant to their products. Every rep we deal with can be googled and earns >3x the combined salary of my office staff comprising 4 people.
Image credits: Hvnisaplaceonerth
#9
Mine. I am a DevOps engineer at a fintech startup, I write server configurations for $125K/yr and I work about 10 - 20 hours a week, remotely. I keep thinking they’ve figured out how easy my job is and decided to fire me and then instead they tell me I’m doing a great job and promote me. I smoked weed all through college and got a degree in philosophy, and did not go to grad school.
Image credits: C4TERW4L
If you feel undervalued and underpaid, you have three choices. First of all, you can (and should!) talk to your boss about a raise. Explain to them how much value you bring to the company and back it up with evidence. Have a couple of reviews like that every year to remind management that you’re an essential cog in their machine. Nobody else will fight for a better wage for you, so it really comes down to your own actions.
#10
Most middle management at large corporations. What do you do.
Image credits: hisglasses66
#11
Knowing the CEO of one of the largest video game companies. CEO. He doesn't know s**t about the industry.
Image credits: businesslut
#12
CEO of Tesla. The guy stays 100% of his time on Twitter, clearly it not that important for the company.
Image credits: TalesM
Your second option is quitting… or rather, looking for another job while you’re still employed and negotiating a severance package at your old one. Many workers have power fantasies about how epically they’ll quit while burning every bridge and slamming every door, but you have to take the time to figure out what’s in it for you. Maybe being a bit more patient and tactical can put you in a better financial position down the line. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should tolerate exhaustion, bullying, and unpaid overtime. Just be strategic about how you handle it.
#13
Positions where the individual can’t (doesn’t know how to) perform the job of the persons beneath them yet are in charge of them.#14
Ex-politicians on the lecture circuit who get paid insane speaking fees
Image credits: jahid232
#15
Most Project Managers. Sit on meetings, repeat what is said in 6-9 other meetings. Update a schedule accordingly. Doesn't make decisions. No value add. All for some upper manager to "be certain" the project is going to be done on blank date.*sorry all, former project manager
Image credits: GeneralComplaint98
Your third option is to work for yourself. Not everyone is built to be an entrepreneur (heck, not everyone wants the stress), but for some people, it is incredibly liberating to start their own business. Focus on a side hustle or two while still keeping your day job and see where things go from there. It’s likely that you’ll need to put in a lot more time and energy into turning your projects into full-time gigs than you thought. So be patient and keep at it.
#16
Whatever it is the Kardashians do.
Image credits: Eiffel-Tower777
#17
College football coaches. The highest-paid public employees in many states, and is even more egregious considering for decades the students were not allowed to make money from endorsement deals and whatever. Glad that has changed, but it's still ludicrous for Alabama or Mississippi for example to sink so much money into their football programs when the rest of the two states struggle in almost every other metric.
Image credits: ShaneSeeman
#18
Onlyfans models#19
We paid a guy/company $10,000 to come and do a motivational speech at the school, which was supposed to improve kindness among the kids at school. It didn't work.
Image credits: smalltownboarder
#20
Anything in sports, honestly if they stopped playing what would change?#21
I know a life coach who charges $300-500 per person for a 'seminar' that's just four hours of her leading yoga and breathing exercises and telling everyone they're doing great. She makes $2,400 per weekend. F***ing wild.
Image credits: ashwheee
#22
In-House Legal for a corporation. I basically browsed the internet most of the day in my office, maybe reviewed one or two standardized contracts and occasionally sat in during a firing. I made $80k a year plus benefits.Edit: To clarify, I am a paralegal, not an attorney and the work was limited to contracts and entity formation.
Image credits: The_Spyre
#23
About two-thirds of the upper-level admins at the university I work for.
Image credits: min_mus
#24
My uncle was a commercial airline pilot. He described his job as “vastly overpaid in normal circumstances and vastly underpaid in emergency situations.”
Image credits: idreallyrathernotktx
#25
President of FIFA
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#26
Ferrari strategist
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#27
My mum from whom I am estranged works as the vice president of reward at an international company. She basically arranges contracts so millionaires can get more money and gets paid 189,000 pounds a year for it. Even she thinks it’s ridiculous.
Image credits: NZKhrushchev
#28
my IT director.. he's never around, automates his email, and he has his own company
Image credits: ds_vii
#29
Generally, US govt contractor positions requiring high security clearances. Entry level pay isn't that high, but once you're cleared other contractors will offer bigger bucks because you can get cleared with them quickly. Jump from one to another, wait two years, do it again, *lather, rinse, repeat.*
Image credits: FrankieMint
#30
Do car salesmen really do any work anymore?Last time I bought a car I looked online, did my research, and knew exactly what I wanted and basically showed up ready to buy. The dealer just gave me the keys for a test drive, then did the paperwork for me.
Image credits: miurabucho
#31
Anything that could be reduced to "I make a lot of money because I move a lot of money", like brokers, insurers, wall street stuff, real estate agents...
Image credits: _BlueFire_
#32
Most CEO or heads of major publicly traded US companies. Outrageous salaries!!!!!#33
Not sure the exact title but saw a video of smug looking woman bumble bragging she makes 250k a year at some Org in los Angelos that “helps” homeless.Basically what I’m getting at is b******t made up foundations that are just milking the system under the guise of “social work” to make bank and fleece people.
#34
Religious Leader#35
EMS is the opposite if this. Just like to point out how many ambulances are shut down EVERYDAY because of understaffing.EMS is treated like s**t for how much work they do. As a paramedic I have more responsibility than an RN, get paid less, and I'm not in a controlled environment.
To answer the question though pro Athletes are probably the best example.
#36
I’m a project manager making ~$200k and I’m about to take an after lunch nap.#37
Vivek Garipalli, Clover Health: $389.6 million.George Mikan, Bright Health: $180.8 million.
Mario Schlosser, Oscar Health: $60.8 million.
John Kao, Alignment Healthcare: $46 million.
#38
Any CEO with a golden parachute and/or a salary greater than 100% over the average of the company.#39
Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They've had a lengthy history of excessive demands ($4 million US spent on "entertainment" in Nagano, traffic lanes dedicated to IOC members during the games, etc.)They make very few decisions, all of which are politically motivated. They travel extensively and are paid well for it:
[https://dailytrojan.com/2021/08/16/progress-without-profit-the-ioc-benefits-itself-at-the-expense-of-athletes/#:~:text=Although%20most%20IOC%20members%20are,meetings%20and%20at%20the%20Olympics](https://dailytrojan.com/2021/08/16/progress-without-profit-the-ioc-benefits-itself-at-the-expense-of-athletes/#:~:text=Although%20most%20IOC%20members%20are,meetings%20and%20at%20the%20Olympics).
From the article:
"Although technically a volunteer, the IOC President receives a yearly “allowance” of $251,000 and lives rent-free in a five-star hotel and spa in Switzerland. "
#40
Pharmacy benefit managers; because they shouldn’t exist#41
One night I babysat three kids for about 2 hours or so. The kids went to bed when I got there, and the parents had left dinner out for me, so all I did was eat their food and watch their TV and pet their dogs.When they got home the mom paid me $100. I told her that was way too much. She slurred "Don't worry about it, I'm drunk." And then I noticed her fly was down.
So that was the most over paid job ever lol.
Image credits: RootMan322
#42
Life coach#43
Anyone who makes a ton of money by inserting themselves into big transactions and charging fees as a percentage of the transaction (brokers, title companies, etc.).#44
TSA doesn’t make anyone safer, just makes us feel safer. Maybe that’s worth the cost to some, not to me.#45
The one I had at my last office job.I was originally hired to be the manager of a new project, but the project was never launched and I had a long term contract. After 5 months of being paid by only clocking in and out without doing any actual work, someone saw me in the pool for available associates and invited me to join their project as a frontline agent.
Apparently at some moment the database just marked me as an available employee, without mentioning the rank I had been hired for. I stayed in the company for 6 years, getting paid the salary of a manager, but with the responsibilities of a regular agent. I rejected every offer for "growth" I had, as I was only working there to pay for a debt. In the end, I made my money with very little stress, and left the company in great terms.
EDIT: thanks for all the attention, I really didn't expect it to get so much traction.
Here's an answer to a couple common comment I've seen:
First, if it was so good, why did I leave? Simple, this job had nothing to do with my own career path. A few years back my life basically crumbled to pieces, I got into some really bad debt and at some point I just had to get a job, even if it was an office job I didn't want. Worked for 2 years in another company before I was recommended for the position in the one mentioned in my post. The day my debt was paid off was the day I presented my 2 week notice and left in great terms. I was lucky to have a nice team around me.
Second, no, I won't mention the company or project. It was as an analyst in a streaming app (no, not the super big ones), what I actually did as a frontline agent was a hybrid of customer service and developer support, all text based.
Third: It was indeed a very fortunate set of coincidences and I took advantage as much as I could, but I left due to my own pursuit. I'm doing good with my own independent endeavour, and no salary will be more valuable than my own sense of accomplishment of making a living out of what I love doing.
Cheers, Reddit.
Image credits: flacocaradeperro
#46
Stock broker. Parasitic middleman between oligarchs and other peoples money.#47
I'm a consultant. It's just outsourced office work and creating fluffy PowerPoints to give executives an excuse to authorize spending.#48
So. Many. MBA's in management. F**k me there is so much bloat in middle management.#49
I work in fintech and I literally do nothing during 9-5. I wake up in the morning, start my computer, check emails, morning meetings, then play video games, go to the gym, invite friends over or go out for brunch, and at the end of the day message everyone a good afternoon. I'm absurdly overpaid as well and highly recommend the career. It's like I have a job but I don't but I do.Edit: For everyone asking, I am a Senior Expert on Blockchain and contract between FANG companies every year, mostly Google and Amazon. The hardest part is the schooling, but afterwards the actual work is quite easy. It's a pretty surreal career and I understand how privileged it is to have a stress free job. I've seen how badly a unhealthy work life balance can impact a person's mental health cause of my parents which is why I got into IT.
Second Edit: My DM's are currently flooded so apologies if I take a while to reply back, trying to respond to everyone with advice >.>
#50
CEO.#51
Homeopathic practitioner.#52
I still don't know what big-firm "consultants" do.#53
TV preachers.#54
School administration. Administration in general actually.#55
Realtor. While I believe they can provide value in some situations, technology has put a lot of the work into the buyer’s hands.You find places you like, send them to a realtor, they walk you through and point out which rooms are bathrooms, print out a mountain of paper for you to sign and … BOOOM $50,000 commission.