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The heritage, museum and library sectors in the UK are badly paid, even for technology and IT staff. Frankly, I suspect that the British Library is reaping the

The heritage, museum and library sectors in the UK are badly paid, even for technology and IT staff. Frankly, I suspect that the British Library is reaping the result of decades of underfunding and under-preparing for such an eventuality despite quite clearly being a target.

flumpcakes 3y ago
IT workers had a £4k uplift to every band compared to all other staff in the heritage sector from my experience, and that was specifically because you can get more money working elsewhere. They're paid "normal" salaries, if look at salary distributions of the UK as a whole. IT/technology is just abnormally overpaid as a whole. I'm not saying it shouldn't be, just that it is.
- maxehmookau 3y ago
  I don't doubt you, but it clearly wasn't enough of an investment in cybersecurity for the UK's flagship, national library to be knocked offline for months with no end in sight. This is less about the pay of any individual working there, but a culture of underinvestment which the UK public sector has been undergoing for the past 15 years.
  - zerkten 3y ago
    >> culture of underinvestment which the UK public sector has been undergoing for the past 15 years. It's going on for much longer than that. It's hard to think of a time when there was investment. It's also hard to think of a time when the individuals and teams who could have prevented this would be given the respect that they deserve. This is a problem in the UK that extends beyond the UK public sector because a lot of the management in large organisations has some cultural similarities.
- okeuro49 3y ago
  > IT/technology is just abnormally overpaid as a whole. In the UK, IT/technology is arguably underpaid, compared to the value it generates. Just remember the TSB IT meltdown last year. (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/20/tsb-bank-fined-it-meltdown-fca https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/20/tsb-bank-fi...) The average salary for a solicitor is ~£70,000 https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/solicitor https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/solicitor The average salary for IT is ~£50,000 https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/information-technology-it https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/information-technolo... For a software engineer ~£60,000. https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/software-engineer https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/software-engineer
- Lio 3y ago
  > "abnormally" There is no such thing as a normal salary. People are paid what the market demands. We're not serfs. If one job offers more compensation than another everyone is entitled to leave and go elsewhere.
  - bee_rider 3y ago
    It looks like they defined what they meant by “normally” elsewhere in their comment. Why edit them down to one word? Seems like that is bound to lose important context.
zerkten 3y ago
As a UK citizen living overseas, I would put problems like this down to more than just underfunding. One of these is the frequent challenge with "talkers" versus "doers" and the wrong people being promoted within the bureaucracy. This is especially the case in government orgs and those close to them which are old and extremely bureaucratic. There are many good people in these organisations who should be paid more in many cases, but they are severely limited by the system. I find it hard to see that this wasn't something expected by many in the know at multiple levels within the British Library. Now it's an even bigger mess that they are ill-equipped to respond to.

flumpcakes 3y ago

IT workers had a £4k uplift to every band compared to all other staff in the heritage sector from my experience, and that was specifically because you can get more money working elsewhere. They're paid "normal" salaries, if look at salary distributions of the UK as a whole. IT/technology is just abnormally overpaid as a whole. I'm not saying it shouldn't be, just that it is.

maxehmookau 3y ago
I don't doubt you, but it clearly wasn't enough of an investment in cybersecurity for the UK's flagship, national library to be knocked offline for months with no end in sight. This is less about the pay of any individual working there, but a culture of underinvestment which the UK public sector has been undergoing for the past 15 years.
- zerkten 3y ago
  >> culture of underinvestment which the UK public sector has been undergoing for the past 15 years. It's going on for much longer than that. It's hard to think of a time when there was investment. It's also hard to think of a time when the individuals and teams who could have prevented this would be given the respect that they deserve. This is a problem in the UK that extends beyond the UK public sector because a lot of the management in large organisations has some cultural similarities.
okeuro49 3y ago
> IT/technology is just abnormally overpaid as a whole. In the UK, IT/technology is arguably underpaid, compared to the value it generates. Just remember the TSB IT meltdown last year. (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/20/tsb-bank-fined-it-meltdown-fca https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/20/tsb-bank-fi...) The average salary for a solicitor is ~£70,000 https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/solicitor https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/solicitor The average salary for IT is ~£50,000 https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/information-technology-it https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/information-technolo... For a software engineer ~£60,000. https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/software-engineer https://www.checkasalary.co.uk/salaries/software-engineer
Lio 3y ago
> "abnormally" There is no such thing as a normal salary. People are paid what the market demands. We're not serfs. If one job offers more compensation than another everyone is entitled to leave and go elsewhere.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  It looks like they defined what they meant by “normally” elsewhere in their comment. Why edit them down to one word? Seems like that is bound to lose important context.

zerkten 3y ago

As a UK citizen living overseas, I would put problems like this down to more than just underfunding. One of these is the frequent challenge with "talkers" versus "doers" and the wrong people being promoted within the bureaucracy. This is especially the case in government orgs and those close to them which are old and extremely bureaucratic. There are many good people in these organisations who should be paid more in many cases, but they are severely limited by the system. I find it hard to see that this wasn't something expected by many in the know at multiple levels within the British Library. Now it's an even bigger mess that they are ill-equipped to respond to.