- GFY Newsletter
- Posts
- 🏃♀️ Job hopping vs career lifers 👀 How to do a salary audit + 🍂 This is how the Autumn Budget changes your life
🏃♀️ Job hopping vs career lifers 👀 How to do a salary audit + 🍂 This is how the Autumn Budget changes your life
The 99 - 4th November 2024
Good afternoon and welcome to The 99: the home of financial news and insights made simple. You can count on accessible, trustworthy, and unbiased news insights every Monday.
Every week we share an Explainer; a guide to a specific topic in bite-sized and actionable steps. Scroll to the bottom for the November Explainer.
Alice
 |  |  |
₽2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000000,000,000,000
How much Russia has fined Google after removing their state-run and pro-government accounts from YouTube. To put that in perspective, an undecillion is equal to a trillion x a trillion x a trillion and far surpasses the entire world’s collective GDP. The amount is still growing as it remains unpaid, and if left unsettled for nine months, it will begin doubling daily, according to reports.
Autumn Budget Recap: How it could change your life |  |
💼 Rachel Reeves has shaken things up with her Autumn Budget, adding a £40 billion tax hike (creating a record tax burden of 38.2% of UK GDP), in exchange for an extra £100 billion in spending over the next parliament.
The Budget In Brief(ish)
📁 Your Everyday Taxes | Income Tax, Employee NI & VAT - no change to rates, as promised. Income Tax - thresholds will finally be unfrozen in 2028 to rise with inflation, meaning more cash in your pocket if your salary increases. Capital Gains Tax (CGT) - increase from 10% to 18% for basic rate, and from 20% to 24% for higher-rate taxpayers. There are no CGT changes on profits from selling additional properties, and small investors can still enjoy the £3,000 CGT-free yearly allowance. Inheritance Tax (IHT) - bands will be frozen for an extra 2 years after 2028 at 40% of the value of the assets above the £325,000 threshold, but from April 2027, any money inherited from a pension will count towards the threshold. Farms and other business property will now fall under IHT law, and inheriters will pay 20% of the value of the property above £1 million. |
💼 Your employer | Employer National Insurance - will rise to 15% on salaries over £5,000 from April 2025. Will your wages go down? The OBR estimates this could mean lower wages or no raises for many, as companies will inevitably pass on approx 76% of the cost to workers. Employer Allowance - the allowance that helps employers to reduce their NI payments will double from £5,000 to £10,500 to help smaller businesses cover the rising NI liability. Corporation Tax - held steady at 25% for businesses with profits over £250,000. |
💰Your wages, benefits and pensions | Legal Minimum Wage - Over-21s will get a rise from £11.44 to £12.21 from April 2025, and for 18-21 year-olds it will rise from £8.60 to £10, with the goal of merging the two into a “single adult rate”. Pension Payouts - State pension up 4.1%, meaning 12 million pensioners will receive £470 per year more. Working Age Benefits - to rise by 1.7% (the September 24 inflation rate) |
Your housing/property 🏡🔺 Rent charged on social housing can increase above inflation. 🏷️ Right to Buy discounts reduced for social housing tenants. ⬇️ Stamp Duty changes ⬇️ On second homes: pay a higher rate, increasing from 3% to 5%. Main homes: threshold to pay will be lower, dropping from £250,000 to £125,000. First-time buyers: duty threshold has also been lowered to £300,000 from £425,000. | Other things 📚🚌 £2 cap on single bus fares will go to £3 in January. 🛫 Air Passenger Duty will increase in 2026: £2 for short-haul and £12 for long-haul economy flights. Private jets will get hit with a 50% tax hike. 💨 New vape tax at a flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml from October 2026. 🚬 Tobacco tax rises: Cigarettes by 2% over inflation and hand-rolling tobacco by 10% over inflation. ⛽️ 5p cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel to remain for an extra year. |
Where’s All The Extra Money Going?
🏥 NHS and Education - Day-to-day spending will increase by 4.7% this year.
💪 Defence - An extra £2.9 billion allocated for next year.
📍 Local Councils - An extra £1.3 billion in funding next year, plus 100% of cash from Right to Buy sales from next month.
💷 Compensation - £11.8 billon for the 30,000 people that contracted HIV and hepatitis C in the 70s and 80s due to contaminated blood products + £1.8 billion for wrongly prosecuted Post Office sub-postmasters.
🕳️ Potholes - will get an extra £500 million next year for repairs in England
🇬🇧 England’s extra spending means £3.4 billion for Scotland, £1.7 billion for Wales, and £1.5 billion for Northern Ireland.
Will you be better or worse off?
Rate the budget... |
Halloween Special:The Top Earning Ghosts of 2024 |  |
Forbes just dropped its infamous list of the highest-paid celebs who are no longer with us…
🧾 Earnings include things like sales, licensing, streams, and other deals made between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.
Here’s the list:
 | Michael Jackson (50yrs) - $600 MillionThe King of Pop. Between the $6 million weekly income from the international tours of MJ: The Musical, and his $600 million catalog sale to Sony, Jackson’s estate is stronger than ever. Since the King of Pop’s passing in 2009, his estate has reportedly amassed over $3.3 billion in total earnings. |
Freddie Mercury (45yrs) - $250 MillionBack on the list for the first time in 4 years thanks to Queen’s £1 billion catalog sale - the highest price ever recorded at the time - and the continued popularity of Rami Malek’s biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. |  |
 | Dr. Seuss (87yrs) - $75 MillionThe world’s favourite storyteller’s empire grows with new Dr. Seuss merch, licensing for theme parks, TV and movies, and limited edition coins, as well as the continued legacy of his famous books being passed down to new generations. |
 |  |  |
Elvis Presley - $50 MillionThe King of Rock lives on in Graceland, where 600,000 fans visited last year alone. Plus, licensing and streaming add to Elvis’s treasure trove. | Bob Marley - $34 MillionA new Marley biopic and a cannabis collab with Jeeter are keeping the reggae icon’s brand strong. |
Matthew Perry - $18 Million$17 million a year in Friends royalties and 2.5 million sales of his memoir have placed Perry among the few TV actors on the list. | Whitney Houston - $13 MillionWhile the top 10 highest-earning celebs beyond the grave are all men, Houston comes in at No.13 on the list, winning big in Sin-City with over 1,000 themed/featured slot machines. |
Job ‘Hoppers’ Or Career ‘Lifers’ - Who Wins?
The study
By recruiters Michael Page, 5,000 adults aged 18-34 shared their insights into both paths—“lifers” who stay put and “hoppers” who bounce between roles every 1-3 years.
Job hopping: Pros and Cons
 | More experience: 46% say switching jobs brings diverse skills and perspectives. Higher pay: 25% of hoppers believe moving roles means better raises, and this seems to be true: those aged 25 to 34 saw 10% annual pay bumps by changing roles, compared to 4% for those who stayed (ONS). Adventure: 34% value the travel potential of hopping. |
Employers appreciate the energy and fresh ideas that hoppers bring—49% of hiring managers appreciate their unique working styles.
35% of managers think hoppers can make an impact quickly.
A downside? There’s a chance that hopping too often could be seen as a lack of commitment, and 18% fear hoppers may struggle to stay motivated long-term.
What “Lifers” Bring to the Table 🪜
On the flip side, lifers bring stability, in-depth expertise, and lasting professional relationships to their companies.
Industry Knowledge 🧠
57% believe employees who stay for many years develop unmatched expertise.
Close Connections 🛜
40% think lifers build stronger industry ties.
Team Players 🧑🤝🧑
Lifers are seen as reliable team players, with 50% saying teamwork is a top strength.
💕 For some, the familiarity and friendships built at work are what matter most—40% of lifers say colleagues are a key reason for staying put.
😌 Plus, 64% of Gen Z and Millennials say lifer attitudes create stability and career security.
🔚 But 44% worry that staying too long might lead to career stagnation. While lifers often gain promotions over time, hoppers can sometimes climb the ladder faster by hopping from one opportunity to the next.
How long do people stay in jobs on average (UK)?
Study: 2,001 people in April 2023 by Acuity training (Censuswide)
In answer to the question: “What is the longest time you have stayed with a single employer?”, the average (mean) was 10.1 years.
For 1 in 10 people in the UK, their longest employment tenure so far has been under a year.
Almost 1 in 5 people haven’t stayed with a single employer for more than 2 years.
For almost a third of the adult population, their longest tenure with a single employer has been over a decade.
Of course, age changes things...
8.7% of 35 to 44s haven’t stayed with a single employer for longer than 6 months.
3-4 years is the most common tenure for 25-34 year olds.
Under The Influence:The true size of the creator economy |  |
The Big Numbers
📈 The influencer industry is now valued at $250 billion. And it’s not stopping there: Goldman Sachs has projected that by 2027, it could almost double to $500 billion.
🌏 This creator ecosystem is huge, with 50 million people worldwide now identifying as creators or influencers.
🔝 Forbes’ Top 50 creators have collectively raked in $720 million over the past year—a cool $20 million increase from last year.
👀 The top influencers now reach 2.7 billion followers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, adding over 100 million new followers since last year alone.
Who’s Making the Big Money?
Forbes ranked these creators based on earnings, follower counts, engagement, and entrepreneurial ventures. Here are the top 5 (technically 6) social media stars:
 MrBeast Earnings: $85 million Followers: 503 million MrBeast, known for his elaborate and excessive giveaways and stunts, remains the world’s most-followed creator. |  Dhar Mann Earnings: $45 million Followers: 120 million Dhar Mann's 150 strong team churns out viral videos, with revenue from Google Adsense and high-profile brand partnerships like WhatsApp. |
 Matt Rife Earnings: $50 million Followers: 30.4 million This stand-up comic went viral on TikTok in 2022 and now performs about 30 sold-out shows monthly. |  Charli D’Amelio Earnings: $23.5 million Followers: 213.5 million Known for her dance moves, Charli has branched into campaigns with Garnier, a shoe line, and a Broadway debut. |
 | Stokes Twins Earnings: $20 million Followers: 113.7 million Alex and Alan have a fast-growing YouTube channel, entertaining millions with pranks and vlogs. |
A Dream Career?
💭 According to Morning Consult, 57% of Gen Z in the U.S. would love to be influencers, with 53% seeing it as a reputable career choice. While becoming an influencer seems attractive, only 4% of creators end up making over $100,000 a year. | 🤑 Businesses are catching on and spending big. U.S. companies have tripled their influencer budgets over the past 5 years to reach $7 billion. Globally, 86% of brands plan to spend on influencer marketing this year, a significant jump from 37% in 2017. |
There’s another downside to the influencer boom: ad fatigue. According to a survey by McKinsey, 68% of fashion consumers are tired of all the sponsored content on their feeds.
November Explainer:
Growing Your Income
What It’s About ✅
This month, we're diving into ways you can actively increase your income. Think of this as a guide to building income in real-time, with actionable income growth strategies.
What It’s Not About ❌
This isn’t about investing. We’ll be covering that very soon but this series is about short and medium-term ways to increase your earning potential.
First, you’ll want to understand what you’re currently earning— and whether it’s fair. This week, we’ll analyse whether your salary aligns with market rates, review your total compensation, and help you access the insights you need to get what you deserve.
Why It Matters
Data shows that less than 30% of employees feel their pay is fair.
This has real consequences for engagement and job satisfaction. A 2022 survey found employees who feel underpaid are 13% less engaged at work and are 15% more likely to consider leaving their employer.
Conducting a Salary Audit
Knowing your base salary is only part of the picture. We’re interested in total remuneration. Some companies balance out lower salaries with additional benefits, which may impact your total package. When reviewing your remuneration, make sure to include everything outlined below.
Quantifying the value of certain perks can be difficult but consider what the value is to you and what you’d be paying out of pocket if it weren’t on offer. If it’s not a perk you value or use, don’t include it. Some benefits can’t really be quantified so in addition to the total remuneration value of the role, make a list of the non-quantifiable perks that you do value e.g. flexible working.
You can also use a calculator like this one.
Base Salary | Joining/Relocation Bonus | RSUs and Stock Options |
Performance Bonuses | Pension Contributions | Holidays and Leave |
Insurance and Healthcare | Perks (e.g., flexible working hours, wellness allowances) |
4 Ways To Check You’re Being
Paid The Market Rate
1️⃣ Use Salary Benchmarking Tools
Glassdoor & LinkedIn Salary Insights These sites aggregate salary information based on title, industry, and location. You can narrow down the data to reflect your years of experience, specific responsibilities, and even company size. | Industry-Specific Salary Reports Some professions have annual reports from recruitment agencies or industry bodies. E.g. the Robert Half Salary Guide provides tailored benchmarks for finance and tech roles, while Hays often publishes data for sectors like engineering, healthcare, and legal. |
💡 Pro Tip 💡
2️⃣ Engage With Recruiters and Headhunters
Professional recruiters are often the best source of information on real-time salary trends, even if you’re not actively job searching. They’re a fantastic source of intel on sector-specific pay and can help you understand what other companies are offering for similar roles. Remember to always ask about total remuneration and benefits on offer such as pension contributions.
💡 Pro Tip 💡
3️⃣ Tap into Industry Networks and Communities 🤝
Unions and Industry Bodies If you’re in a regulated field (e.g., teaching, healthcare), unions often have access to more nuanced pay data, particularly when it comes to public sector roles. | Associations and Networking Groups Many associations, like CIPD (HR) or BIMA (digital and tech) publish salary guides or have forums for discussing pay rates. These groups often hold events where salary trends are openly discussed. |
Online Communities 🧑💻
LinkedIn groups, Reddit forums, and Glassdoor Community boards can be useful for pay discussions. For example, the GFY “Pay Me” forum offers a dedicated space for people in similar fields to talk real numbers.
 |  |
4️⃣ Talk to your colleagues
Speaking Up About Pay | 🧠 Knowledge is power, and transparency about salaries can make a huge difference. 👩⚖️ In the UK, discussing your pay is your legal right under the Equality Act 2010, especially when it’s to uncover differences related to protected characteristics. 😶🌫️ Remember that employers can suggest, but not enforce, that you don’t discuss pay. 📣 Start with colleagues you trust and use your findings to understand whether you’re on par with peers. For more on this, see this GFY Guide: Why and how you should talk to your colleagues about your salary |
Found out that you’re not being paid fairly? Stay tuned for next week’s explainer featuring an employment expert who will share their advice on what to do if you’re being paid less than you deserve.
Growing Your Income
Week 1 Checklist ✅
Easy and quick actionable life admin you can do right now
⬜️ Calculate your total remuneration using the tools shared above
⬜️ Use a salary benchmarking platform or access a sector-specific report to understand how your salary compares
⬜️ Connect with 3 recruitment professionals who specialise in your sector
Sources/Read More:
Autumn Budget Breakdown
The Top Earning Ghosts of 2024
Under The Influence: The Creator Industry
Job ‘Hoppers’ Or Career ‘Lifers’ - Who Wins?
