Salary Information: Economic Recovery for Whom?

President Ronald Reagan once asked, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Today, one might ask, “Is your annual salary better off in this economic recovery than in previous recoveries?” Aviva Aron-Dine and Isaac Shapiro of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities at cbpp.org recently analyzed salary information from the U.S. Commerce Department and concluded that wages and salaries have increased at a 1.7% average annual rate (adjusting for inflation) during the current economic recovery. They compared this salary information to previous economic recoveries (post-World War II) when workers’ wages and salaries increased at an average annual rate of 3.7%.

Aron-Dine and Shapiro also compared this salary information to corporate profits. During the present economic recovery, they found that profits for corporations have risen at an average annual rate of 13.7%, higher than previous economic recoveries (post-World War II) when corporations' profits had an average annual growth rate of 7.9%. They conclude that “the share of national income captured by corporate profits… is at its highest level since 1950,” while “the share of national income going to wages and salaries remains at the lowest level on record (going back to 1929).” 

How has your annual salary grown during the current recovery? Want to try a salary comparison? Take our salary survey.

Rating Charities: Is Microsoft a More Successful Charity Than Care USA?

What I thought was an innocuous comment about a corporate leader focusing on something other than his personal bottom line generated a heated response from a reader.

I was glad to learn I have at least one reader :-)

Delia's objections are that craigslist is not legally a non-profit and does not report its finances, which is perfectly legal for a private for-profit company. Craig Newmark's claims of philanthropy and poverty could just be a ploy to maximize his lifetime average annual salary and total income.

While I cannot speak for Craig's inner motivations, or his annual salary, this got me thinking about when a for-profit company is really a successful charity. For today, I'm going to go a little off my usual topics of annual salary and statistics, and look at rating charities: if your goal in life is to do charitable works, would you be more effective at a for-profit company or non-profit?

To make the question concrete, rated as charities, which is a more successful charity: the non-profit CARE USA, or that rapacious monopolist, Microsoft?

Charity begins at home :-) Find out with our salary calculator whether you are earning all you can.

President's Day: Executive Stock Compensation Rates

President Bush raised a few eyebrows recently when he scolded some of the lavish executive compensation packages (as reported by MSNBC.com). In honor of President's Day, let's look at some of the more well known Presidents, CEOs and their executive stock compensation rates, starting with the Chairman of Apple - Steve Jobs. For several years now, Steve Jobs has drawn a measly executive annual salary of $1. However, Jobs fares far better in the area of executive stock compensation rates (even with the backdating controversy).

In March 2003, Jobs was compensated with 10 million restricted shares of Apple stock. In 2006, Jobs sold 45 percent of his Apple stock for $295 million. His executive stock compensation rates didn’t stop there. He cashed in again when Pixar Animation Studios was sold to Disney. Admittedly, Jobs was not just CEO at Pixar, but also founder. Recent articles on executive compensation in Forbes.com placed Jobs' net wealth at $4.4 billion. Backdating controversies aside, executive compensation packages, and starting 3 companies, have been good to Steve Jobs.

How does your salary compare to Steve Jobs executive annual salary of $1?  Find out with our salary calculator.

Valentine Ideas: Salary Survey

As Valentine’s Day approaches, love and other unrealistic expectations fill the air, but what about romantic sweet talk of salaries, or at least a salary survey? There is a huge cottage industry out there dealing in love, or the promise of it. There are numerous dating web sites, dating experts (one is featured in Salary Stories) and professional matchmakers. They are quite different from the one you may recall in Fiddler on the Roof. These pros are armed with computer databases and PR campaigns.

A high-end matchmaker is almost like a human resources recruiter. He or she will interview clients, screen potential partners and arrange several interviews, err, introductions, and may even do a salary survey of possible wealthy mates, like this list from law.usc.edu.  According to money.cnn.com, a matchmaker's salary range depends on the fees, which reportedly can range from $3K to $30K per year, or even $50K for a media campaign in multiple cities to find "the one." Employees of matchmaking firms may earn six-figures, if their annual salary is combined with commission.

How is your relationship with your salary?  Is the magic still there?  Find out with our salary survey.

Salary Range: Human Resources

Most children don’t dream of someday working in human resources, well, except maybe the precocious kids at HR.com. “Payroll administration,” “team-building games,” and “benefit guidelines” are not the most spine-tingling phrases in a job description. Still, there’s no denying that HR is with us for the long haul and is a growing career field.

As the human resource job market grows, it is giving birth to an array of sub-specialties such as Payroll Administrator, HR Manager, Recruiter, Hiring Manager, Benefits Administrator, Corporate Trainer, Leadership Coach, HR Generalist, Vice President of Human Resources, and, my favorite, Compensation Analyst; the list goes on and on. For those who are seeking employment, the HR professional is usually the first person you must win over.

We all have a horror story or embarrassing job interview. A 30-something friend of a friend once interviewed to be an assistant for Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton. To his great surprise, the person interviewing him was Keaton’s then-current assistant: a teenager who had recently graduated from high school and was leaving to go to college. There’s nothing more awkward than being interviewed by someone half your age and having to impress them.

How does your salary look these days? Is it worthy of an Oscar, or a Raspberry? Check it out with our salary calculator.