The lights of the year 2009 and indeed the first decade of the new millennium have finally dimmed and the new light of what many people will hope to be a dawn of hope and opportunity are rising across the globe.
Whilst many around the world will be hoping simply to find a new job following all of the lay offs in 2009, there will be the more hopeful amongst us who will be turning their eyes onto the beginning of a career that they will be looking to make fortune and fame from during the years to come.
Finding information on the highest paying careers of 2009 has not been an easy task, perhaps as people are less inclined to advertise their earnings in times when many are having trouble making ends meet. The subject just seems a little distasteful this year.
For full tabled labour figures including weekly and hourly worker rates it is possible to decipher the highest paying careers from information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website http://www.bls.gov/ but be warned it is a minefield of information and not the most user friendly of sites to navigate. However, if one has time on their hands it will break down the figures into state and occupation, presumably based upon their tax raising statistics.
A quite substantial report from U.S. Today has chosen to focus on what the future holds and whilst it doesn’t go as far as informing on wage settlements and performance per industry sector, it has chosen to focus on the security offered by industries in the coming years and advises;
“The financial crisis and economic recession have made quick work of an expected gradual evolution in our economy. In the next few years, it could look very different—a shrunken Wall Street will force bankers to find jobs In other industries, a massive green-energy effort could create jobs that are barely on the map today, and an expanding healthcare sector could offer new opportunities for a broad swath of workers. So whether you're out of work or you're gainfully employed, you should keep on eye on the changing nature of our job market.”
In order to find sufficient data to bring you the list of highest paying careers for the next year I have searched data from the BLS and like many other colleagues taken a view that the world is likely to change. Unfortunately the data we often see is not a true reflection of what is available in terms of the true highest paying careers as bonuses and fringe benefits are not taken into account and indeed I have omitted sports personalities altogether, but in terms of the mainline careers based upon salaried earnings (to the nearest $’000) here are my top 10 in reverse order;
Number 10 – Air Traffic Controllers (average salary $107,000)
Number 9 – Natural Science Managers (average salary $113,000)
Number 8 – Marketing Managers (average salary $113,000)
Number 7 – Computer and I.S. Managers (average salary $114,000)
Number 6 – Petroleum Engineers (average salary $114,000)
Number 5 – Engineering Managers (average salary $116,000)
Number 4 – Lawyers (average salary $118,000)
Number 3 – Airline Pilots (average salary $149,000)
Number 2 – Chief Executives (average salary $151,000)
Number 1 – Medical Professionals (average salary $175,000)
Clearly, for those just entering the job market they should be aware that whilst no bankers appear to even reach the top 10 in terms of highest paying careers in salary alone, yet with the “average” UK banker in 2008 receiving a £1 million ($1.6 million) annual bonus, it would appear that the figures don’t quite reflect the truth of what different industries are paying their key employees.
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It would seem that whilst the bankers may appear to have developed a conscience in terms of flaunting their earnings they still haven’t yet acted on that conscience in terms of grabbing it wholeheartedly with both hands or indeed complaining that the lower millions aren’t quite enough for them to live on.
My own opinion which appears not to follow that of the national and financial press columns is that the bankers’ bonuses will continue at their extravagant rates, perhaps only to become masked by other forms of payments. The suggested windfall taxes will leave the taxman wide open with loop holes for these individuals to jump through and nothing will change. Therefore I submit that the true winner of the highest paying careers still owes its trophy to the masked banker.
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