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Most have at least undergrad degrees. Some top administrative positions (called administrative assistants) require a master’s.</p>
<p>Most law firms nowadays only hire with a bachelor’s degree. in my particular firm, we have secretaries with master’s degrees and two with Ph.Ds. Many are secretary/something. One just had her second, very well-received book published by a name publisher. She has small children and needs stable benefits otherwise she wouldn’t have come back from her book tour. Another is in the chorus at the Metropolitan Opera and he takes part of every year off. Two have been lawyers at nice firms (not Skadden or anything but good firms) who have made lifestyle choices. Lots are actors/actresses, etc. in addition to secretarial work. This is the norm in New York.
An old friend of mine is the secretary (that’s her title) for the family office of one of the most famous men in the world. It is a completely secretarial position, but she’s been there for a long time. Makes around $200k and gets a bonus. He is not on Wall Street.</p>
<p><<34 Million. Can we all agree that no person’s annual value is that much>></p>
<p>I think that NO athlete or entertainment person should ever be paid anything like that, but we know it’s very prevalent. I won’t go to any sporting event or pay to see movies in a theater for this reason. I try not to buy ANYTHING that is endorsed by people making mega salaries (that goes for Tiger Woods and Buick and Michael Jordan and Hanes, you get my idea)</p>
<p>An athlete does not have stockholders nor has an athlete just received a taxpayer-funded bailout of several hundred billion dollars. There is no analogy here.</p>
<p>My H has a development company; it’s small–3 partners, 10 professional staff and 2 support people. The main support person makes $100K and the other about $65K. One has a college degree; the other went to culinary school. Both of the support people work 8-9 hour days, but will stay longer if they need to get work out. They get good benefits (health care with no employee contribution requirements) and also get bonuses. However, that’s all they do. Neither one writes books or sings for the opera or acts–they have families/kids and don’t have time. </p>
<p>I’ve got mixed feelings about the bonuses for the Wall Street execs. From a PR perspective–these top guys shouldn’t take bonuses, especially if its a company that’s being bailed out. Plus, the execs ought to get rid of the perks. The auto CEOs taking 3 private jets to DC is something that makes people crazy and when you’re asking for handouts, you should be sensitive to that. On the other hand, if these guys are making zillions for a company (and I recognize that many aren’t right now) and the boards of directors of these companies agreed to the bonuses, then they should get them. I think it’s especially true for the lower-level employees who depend on those bonuses. However, if you have to fund those bonuses from public monies, that’s a different story. While the bonuses are probably a drop in the bucket compared to the amounts of money these companies need/want from the government, the symbolism of foregoing the bonuses is significant.</p>
<p><<an athlete=“” does=“” not=“” have=“” stockholders=“” nor=“” has=“” an=“” just=“” received=“” a=“” taxpayer-funded=“” bailout=“” of=“” several=“” hundred=“” billion=“” dollars.=“” there=“” is=“” no=“” analogy=“” here.=“”>></an></p>
<p>No, but their salaries inflate the cost of the product they provide. Maybe ticket prices wouldn’t have to keep going up if it didn’t cost over 100 Million a year to pay the team to play ball.</p>
<p>But you go ahead and buy those jerseys and sit in those seats, I won’t be.</p>
<p>Maybe I should rethink my career choice. (wink) I am going to have to work longer than I thought due to the economic downturn anyway…
I have to say that things have changed. I worked in a very large well known NYC law firm, back in the day, and generally, the secretaries had gone to secretarial school only. We had our share of the performing arts paralegals, but they generally worked the night shifts so that they could go to auditions during the day. There were crews working 24 hours a day at that place…</p>
<p>Most night crews have long disappeared. During the last downturn, most were eliminated or outsourced. It’s most common (although not universal) that paralegals are stopping by on their way to law or graduate school. Many of their former tasks are done by “practice support” departments.</p>