<p>Disclosure: I work for a financial competitor of GSach’s. </p>
<p>Those ‘bonuses’ they provide are not for everyone, just the investment bankers section and execs. Even then their salaries are generally considerable lower then $200-250k (even with MBA) but they use bonuses to compensate for this. Average bonus size from my understanding will put them in the $200-300k in total earnings if they are successful (and that is a big if). The $800k figure you see is actually spread across the exec level and is never seen by the investment bankers themselves (generally the top 100 execs).</p>
<p>Engineering generally has a ceiling in the $120-$180k range which is generally only hit after 15-20 years of experience. Climbing the corporate ladder with a background of engineering on the other hand has a much higher ceiling. I’ve seen B.S. engineers in management making $100-120k within 5 years from college graduation if they worked at it (some were going to night school for MBA).</p>
<p>Yes, I know what you’re going to say - that the LADWP doesn’t receive any tax support and indeed contributes revenue to the city. On the other hand, if they ratcheted down salaries, they would be able to contribute even more revenue to the city. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong - I’m certainly not going to begrudge any engineer the opportunity to earn higher salaries. Indeed, I think that all engineers are underpaid, certainly relative to consultants, bankers, and business managers. However I will say that it is bizarre indeed to find a public sector job that actually pays more than its private sector counterparts. The underlying philosophy of public sector work is that you earn less salary in return for a shorter and well-defined (i.e. 40-hour) workweek, better benefits, and greater job security. The LADWP seems to be offering all that and higher pay, so those engineers are having their cake and eating it too. </p>
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<p>Sure, but that only means that those top earners (actually, including the top traders and MD’s, not just the top 100 execs) are truly cleaning up. Those guys can make more money in a single year than an engineer will make in his entire career. </p>
<p>But my question has always been - why? Why shouldn’t a superstar engineer have the opportunity to earn millions in a single year, if he produces the corresponding value for an engineering firm, the same way that a top trader has the opportunity to earn millions by producing the corresponding value at an investment bank? Until and unless that ever happens, the most talented people are going to continue to prefer to work as bankers rather than engineers.</p>
DWP only provides services for the city of LA. California is bankrupt because of the too strict environmental laws and non friendly business environment causing businesses to move to other states. Combined that with the fact that we are paying social benefits for 13M illegals that do not contribute to the tax…</p>
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All I can say is during good economy (the booms) public employees are paid less; during bad times and when the economy contracts and salary deflates, it SEEMS that public gets paid more than private. Additionally, I think in comparison to private utility agencies, they are paid more or less the same.</p>
It’s only one of the reasons. LA City also needs to pay for benefits for the illegals, politicians waste, CRA, politics etc etc etc. It’s rather lengthy discussion, but to cut it short, when liberals are given too much power, this is what happens.</p>
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I know a VP at ch2mhill that was making 200k a year when land development was hot. The guy didn’t have an advanced degree, only a CA PE and PLS. I know another VP at dmjm/aecom that I met from goldline light rail project that was making about that much… OK… maybe not engineers, but they were once started as engineers…</p>
<p>Right - not engineers. Nobody disputes that managers can make a killing; the question is whether engineers can do so. Apparently civil engineers can ironically do so only by working in the public sector.</p>
<p>Yeah, I sure don’t, either, having been a civil engineer in California two years ago. In fact, my company wouldn’t even give us a salary adjustment for living in Los Angeles, so I was paid the same as a person who worked in, say, Kansas City.</p>
<p>I guess the point I’m trying to make is… that’s total b<strong><em>s</em></strong>, and makes me just a little more fed up with the cattle calls you have to put up with at Public Works departments just to get something built.</p>
<p>Then again, I’m sitting here at my desk on a Saturday at a quarter to five, trying to get a bunch of plans out because Girl Captain America Nancy Drew from Podunkville, Texas, decided to nitpick eight pages’ worth of comments on my site plan design, so I’m probably a little bit punchy right now. (If it were code or design issues, I’d happily make changes, but seventy-two points’ worth of “please draw contours in addition to showing point elevations” is really chapping my a** at the moment, in addition to the fact that I’m having to learn AutoCAD today because nobody told me it’s our overseas drafters’ weekend off.)</p>
<p>Quote from rheidzan:
“DWP only provides services for the city of LA. California is bankrupt because of the too strict environmental laws and non friendly business environment causing businesses to move to other states. Combined that with the fact that we are paying social benefits for 13M illegals that do not contribute to the tax…”</p>
<p>The state of california is not responsible for “social benefits” for 13 millions illegals because the 13 million figure is for the entire country, not just the state of california and to assume that all illegals are receiving “social benefits” is typical scapegoating behavior. </p>
<p>Also, several illegals pay taxes and pay into a social security system that they will never see a penny of in the future. Look for the box to put in your “ITIN” number next time you file your taxes. </p>
<p>I don’t want to start a political discussion but next time please make sure what you are saying is factually correct before you start bashing “liberals who have too much power.”</p>
<p>Refer back to post #16 where I said that you deserved better pay. If LADWP engineers can make $200k a year (and most likely while working only 40-hour workweeks), why shouldn’t you? Heck, why shouldn’t all top engineers?</p>
<p>It’s hard for your manager to give you a big raise if your company structure is not flexible. The best negotiation is to apply for a new job then give notice.</p>
<p>No, I know, I was talking towards rheidzan’s citations of LADWP salaries. Major point being that if anybody is to make that kind of coin, it should be ME!, and not the people who aggravate me on weekends. ;)</p>
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<p>Seen the job market lately? My husband lives in a different state. I would prefer to live with him, obviously. Not only are there no openings in my field within a three-hour radius of his job, but there are no openings in <em>engineering</em> within a three-hour radius of his job. (Why doesn’t he get a job near me, you might ask? He’s a music composition professor, for which there are nationally approximately six and a half jobs, two of which have salaries…)</p>
<p>I’ve been out of grad school since '06 and have had two jobs. The second one gave me an 8K pay raise and moved me from LA to Houston, so when you calculate cost of living… You’re preaching to the choir, here, there’s just no fulcrum to put my fiscal lever on these days.</p>
<p>As a note, people served by the LADWP actually have lower electricity rates than people in neighboring cities served by Southern California-Edison. They also have lower water rates. Engineers are also paid less at the DWP than Edison.</p>
CA has the highest tax for gas, car, sales, tobacco, corp, etc, etc.
CA’s income tax is the highest and that rate kicks in at $40k (if I’m not mistaken). Additionally they will have a 10% tax surcharge on our income tax.
CA’s school budget keeps increasing although the number of students is decreasing.
Unions pay politicians, which in turn gives high salary to public employees…
CA has the most numbers of illegals in the nation.
Majority of legislative is democrats.
They make CA a non-friendly state to do business.
When the economy tanks, they raise taxes,which causes corps to move away.
Conservatives are the minority… Arnie can’t do jack with the pressure…</p>
<p>Now, please explain to me why I can’t blame the liberals for this mess? </p>
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I double checked, and the ones paid 200k is the entry to mid level management people, not the engineers themselves. The engineers are capped at $120k.</p>
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Just get an intern to draw the contours… It’s not gonna take that long, the most is probably an hour… I used to do that kind of stuff when I was an intern… piece of cake…</p>
<p><strong><em>gets aibarr a pot</em></strong>
It’s almost legal now here in CA… LOL</p>
<p>Chah right, like we have money for interns this summer, and like the interns would be working on a Saturday.</p>
<p>I think the difference between public-sector workers and private-sector workers is that the public-sector ones aren’t concerned about wasting their brains away with marijuana. I’ll take another pint of Guinness, though. =)</p>
My husband lives in a different state. I would prefer to live with him, obviously. Not only are there no openings in my field within a three-hour radius of his job, but there are no openings in <em>engineering</em> within a three-hour radius of his job. (Why doesn’t he get a job near me, you might ask? He’s a music composition professor, for which there are nationally approximately six and a half jobs, two of which have salaries…)</p>
I’ll take another pint of Guinness, though. =)</p>