White collar job salaries have fallen the most behind relative to how things used to be, amirite?

Roughly 40% of Americans have a BA or above, but only 15% of Americans make 100k or more—and that's trending down (from 18% in 2020), even as 100k means less and less…

by Wittingcortez 2 weeks ago

I gotta question that 40%. It seems way too high.

by Background-Force-364 2 weeks ago

It's definitely lower than 40%, but not by much. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, 34.2% of adults over 25 who were born in the US had a Bachelor's Degree or higher, and 29.4% of adults over 25 who live in the US but were born outside the US had a Bachelor's degree.

by amayakautzer 2 weeks ago

It could be including students.

by Emergency-Major 2 weeks ago

Had to do some digging to find a number that accounts for people under 25, but if you look at the population as a whole, only 31.3% of US citizens have a college degree of any kind, including Associate's degrees. For some reason the Census Bureau seems to only include people over 25 as adults.

by amayakautzer 2 weeks ago

Students working to earn their BA probably shouldn't be included in stats of people who have BAs.

by Independent_Note 2 weeks ago

I feel like that number is probably pretty accurate. Not all bachelors degree holders are the same. I've met bartenders, Uber drivers, barbers, etc with degrees. Even low level office jobs that didn't require a bachelor's a few years ago now do. I live in a rural city in the Midwest and the stats show that even way out here about 36% of people here have a bachelor's degree

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

Been looking at jobs a lot the past couple months. So many of them want a Bachelors Degree any more. Really makes me wish I could've actually finished school back in the day.

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

One of my employees has a master's degree but insists on working for me as a food runner and at jewel as a stocker. I keep telling him to find something in or close to his field, or at least an office job that just requires any degree, but he just doesn't try for em.

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

Lotta literature and psych degrees out there

by Traditional_Rule 2 weeks ago

America is pretty well educated. The issue is that most of that 40% got degrees they can never do anything with. They are educated, just don't make really good decisions in life.

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

Yeah I can't imagine what someone does with a gender studies degree other than teach.

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

50 % make less then 41k. Obviously 1 in 2 people are horrible its not the system that is wrong

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene has a BBA and Matt Gaetz a law degree, so…

by Wittingcortez 2 weeks ago

That's crazy. I'm getting closer to that 1%! Hell yeah!

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

Damn that's not a good stat. Less ppl making 100k which already means less than it did pre Covid

by Ok_Firefighter 2 weeks ago

I think it's a combination of over-saturation of workers and increases in technology that are disproportionately effecting white collar jobs. E.G. with the sharp rise in remote work companies have an easier time hiring overseas for jobs that just a few years ago were almost impossible to do without being on site.

by Salty-Toe-2778 2 weeks ago

We learned during covid that most of these jobs are either redundant or can be done from the Philippines or Bangalore for 1/5 the price.

by Carlee18 2 weeks ago

It's funny you say that because a ton of tech jobs have tried moving to India or Mexico and are having problems with being able to put out work as efficiently

by Ornery-Situation 2 weeks ago

That's because they're only writing stories on the ones that failed. Look at the trends. US Tech jobs are still 25% below pre-pandemic levels and lay-off's are continuing 4 years out. Most of those have either been outsourced, automated or redundant.

by Wittingcortez 2 weeks ago

The tech sector in general is in a bear market rn almost all of them are having a down year

by Ornery-Situation 2 weeks ago

/Sips tea

by Wittingcortez 2 weeks ago

Tech and high innovation work might be an exception as compared to most other white collar jobs

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

Grey collar

by Koelpinelliot 2 weeks ago

No, you're thinking of Pink Floyd

by Lindkari 2 weeks ago

That sounds like a contagious illness

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

If we're going by pure definition - a lot of data entry and customer service would fall under white collar. And there's a lot of that out there.

by Anonymous 2 weeks ago

lol this is just cope from people who dont want to acknowledge that sitting at a desk all day is in fact white collar. you are aware that these labels are based on physical vs non-physical work right? just because data entry pays low does not make it 'blue collar'. by the same token being in a high paying trade in no way makes you 'white collar', its based on physicality not pay rate.

by Morarkris 2 weeks ago

I didn't mention pay…I literally used movement of data as AN example, which falls under your definition physical vs non-physical. Review of Terms & Conditions typically falls to legal departments, which are lawyers usually. The person approving and reviewing would still be grey collar but I wager still get paid well.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

What about blue color jobs with a lot of desk time using CAD/CAM?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is a good point. There has been a major economic shift and white collar has a somewhat different meaning nowadays.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

How? Like a mechanical engineer isn't blue collar by any means

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The Mechanical engineer better be making more than 100k a year

by Anonymous 1 week ago

A lot don't and very few make more than 130k, you only make more if you move into management

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Geez, my union makes it nearly impossible to pay that little

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I see where you're thinking that but that's not true at all. Check for engineer salaries in Denver, Colorado metro area and you can clearly see that being in management isn't a necessity. That's a higher COL area but it's definitely not the case everywhere for mechanical engineers. I make quite a bit more than the $130k as a mech/aero and I'd say I'm midway through the technical path at my company. The next higher step starts at $160k base salary.

by alisaullrich 1 week ago

How many years of experience do you have?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

There are opinions and there are facts. While I understand the sentiment, math doesn't agree with you. Low wage workers continue to see less wage growth than higher earners.

by Lamont42 1 week ago

I'm not contesting that, more that the return on investment is far less than it used to be and no proportional to the work that's required to get to there compared to blue collar salaries.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I have worked with so many people with four year degrees that have done nothing with them.

by Brayanlittel 1 week ago

Remember there are restaurant servers making 2000 a week, and entry office workers making 13/hr. Its not so much about the pay anymore, rather the opportunity to work where you want

by laurastroman 1 week ago

Just because someone isn't in the field they went to school for doesn't mean the degree isn't being used. I've worked outside my degree since graduating and it has gotten me every job offer AND a higher pay rate upon hiring. So it's being utilized. So many of my peers think I did nothing with my degree cause I work in animal care and not English/history, because I'm not going around announcing every little thing in my career it's helped with lol

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Just like IT, the jobs have been outsourced to other countries for wayyyyy cheaper.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Its cause a huge portion of white collar jobs and positions dont actually produce anything or do much. Less and less companies can afford to pay people to produce nothing.

by Witty_Cable_2462 1 week ago

A lot of white collar jobs had inflated salaries.

by Milo63 1 week ago

It's called prolitarianisation and it's coming to for your job.

by Ok_Apple 1 week ago

Unpopular and wrong lol

by kaylah39 1 week ago

I have a master's degree in an important healthcare field that supposedly has a massive worker shortage, yet I make $80k/year in a mid-high COL area

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is an example of a situation where your opinion is sitting in the place of a fact. The amount of money these jobs used to make compared to now is a measurable thing. We can determine the truth with numbers, so your opinion is meaningless.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

But they're a hell of a lot easier than those blue collar jobs. Especially the WFH jobs.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Really depends on the specific white/blue collar jobs you're comparing.

by Historical_Tea8425 1 week ago

They are overpaid when less people are qualified. Now that more are qualified, wages go down. It's just math

by ExternalFrosty7410 1 week ago

White collar jobs have been bloated AF these last decade. The bubble is popping due to oversaturation of workers, outsourcing, and ai. Tbf, most of my white collar friends tell me that they're just trying to look busy most of the time.

by Aurore00 1 week ago

You shouldn't have to have two salaries to make ends meet. I used to make $100k a year and my take home pay was $4800 per month. It's enough to live, but not enough to really afford a house near the city I work in. Now I make $175k and I just bought a house for $350k. The mortgage is $3k, which is totally affordable for me with my current income but no way could I have afforded it making $100k gross.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

200k isn't end meet wtf is wrong with people? I can easily take care of my self with half of 100k so 200k isn't end meet it's called luxury…

by paullakin 1 week ago

lmao "I'm slightly less dramatically more well off than other people now :("

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Nah, that's just cope from people who are incapable of doing anything more than "Me move box".

by Intrepid-Term5925 1 week ago

What does that have to do with the prompt? PersonA working blue color job in 1999 can buy a house. PersonA and PersonB working blue color jobs in 2024 cannot buy a house together. PersonC working white color job in 1999 can buy a house. PersonC working white color job in 2024 can buy a house alone. So it appears that blue color jobs have been more affected than white color jobs.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'm an Engineer in the UK and the wage stagnation is unreal. I read a report from the engineering Council that said that the average engineering salary around 2002 was £33k, which equates to around £59k now with inflation. Estimates on the current average engineering salary vary but usually the ballpark is £35-39k. That is an astonishing lack of growth. Keep in mind that in the UK the national minimum wage has actually grown slightly above inflation in that same time frame.

by StretchThick8761 1 week ago

Yea. I have a friend in DC with a degree in Political Science, working as a policy advocate. He's making $67k... which is about as much a bartender makes in DC. He can afford to either live in a 400sqft studio or with 4 roommates. Not particularly comfortable either way. I'm an EE making $87k in a MCOL area. It's not bad, I wouldn't complain about my salary. But it's definitely not as good as it was 5 years ago.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Ita all jobs man

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I mean it's not a competition though? Like companies are underpaying for all positions that aren't executive positions; white collar, blue collar, are just terms used to foster division in the working class when the actual enemy is the ones who don't provide anything of value to the world but parasitically leech money from those who do.

by Joelle19 1 week ago

I don't know where you live but there are very few countries where a high school graduate can make $30-$50k a year and several years of experience can get you $100k. That is insane. The median income is somewhere around $10-$15k so if you're making 5-10x the average person I don't know how you can complain you're not doing ridiculously well

by Dan81 1 week ago

I think the best way to phrase it, is the decimation of the middle class. It's a trend that western countries are working hard at for about 40 years. For about 100 years (until the 1980s) the middle class had been the engine for economic prosperity. The development of urban centers, extended commerce, etc. At some point the leadership (all parties) were duped into changing direction and taking different ways. The results are evident these days.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'm a teacher on 85k USD. Wide is on 115k USD. Not struggling, but barely saving anything.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I work in health care. Something is about to give. At our doc level, no raises or anything has been given. Fees for services have gone up, entry level wages go up, everyone above us have gone up, but our wages have been stagnant. I make good money yes, but my relative value has dropped a lot. I have people under me that make very very comparable hour by hour money and way less stress or work

by Reasonable-Crab-6800 1 week ago

What are you going to do about it?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'm a blue collar raised HS graduate who is looking at a DM position that pays 110k per year in a low cost of living city. Skipping college was one of the better decisions i made. I manage many college graduates who are hampered by debt while i have none and live pretty well as a SM

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Well I really think it's kind of about time. I am a blue collar worker and I never understood why someone who sits in a office all day, almost in no danger made so much more money then I do. Idk I have a weird opinion on it

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I see some of my friends who got into programming and secretly can't wait for AI to take their jobs. They admit their job is a joke. They will say "my day starts out where I roll out of bed 3 minutes to start of work, and log into a zoom call. Then after that I turn on twitch and half watch gaming streams while I write code. I probably only work 5 hours in an 8 hour day and even then only minimum effort." That dude doesn't deserve $130k a year. I don't care how specific his job is.

by alexatoy 1 week ago

Me as a blue collar worker looking at my year to date income and have already made $130k. Now, thinking definitely made the right choice.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Most blue collar jobs don't exist anymore or have gone to where labor is cheap

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Hey now, someone still needs to maintain construction equipment, even if it's built elsewhere. There is actually a massive shortage in the industry.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Are you talking about blue collar or white collar?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Hey buddy, just curious, how much does a banana cost these days?

by Wittingcortez 1 week ago