Uncle Sam is paying up to $196K 🧑‍⚖️

Plus: Become a cheese apprentice

December 05, 2023

Hey there! Last Thursday was Spotify Wrapped (AKA the day we found out that ‘Stomp and Holler’ is a legitimate genre). So in typical STS fashion, we whipped up our own $alary Wrapped: 

  • 🤯 We recorded over 3,575 salaries in our database. 

  • 📌 We spread transparency to 20 different states…and even hit Canada! 

  • ❤️‍🩹 The highest earner we interviewed was a cardiac anesthesiologist earning $700K.  

What a year it’s been! We first launched STS in April 2022 and now have tons of exciting projects in the works. We can’t wait to see what 2024 holds next. 💚

 1   Uncle Sam is hiring laid-off tech workers 🇺🇸

Lingbeek

From explosive growth to drastic downsizing. Major players like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have been laying off tech workers in droves due to recession fears and over-hiring, per Forbes. The result? Over 250,000 tech workers globally lost their jobs in 2023. 

But Uncle Sam is here to save the day. The US government is actively recruiting tech workers, eager to tap into this talent pool to ease labor shortages: 

  • The US Department of Veteran Affairs hired 1,068 tech workers just this past year. To adjust for the gap between government and private sector roles, they increased their average salary by $18,000. 👀

  • The Federal Tech Portal currently has 118 open technical roles, with some yearly salaries as high as $196,000. 

  • Federal, state, and local government tech job postings soared 48% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same time last year. 

Although the US government isn’t exactly known for having flashy pay or on-site massages (*cough* Square *cough*), it has its own upsides: Reliable pensions, student loan forgiveness, job stability, and meaningful projects. 

If you’re a tech worker interested in pivoting to government, we got you. Go to techtogov.org to find a ton of resources, from job boards to FAQs to educational videos!

 2   Whole Foods' cheese apprenticeship is no joke 🧀

Are you a charcuterie board connoisseur? Can you tell the difference between triple cream and brie? Do you accept a wheel of cheese as a legitimate birthday present? Then you might be a perfect candidate to become a Certified Cheese Professional (CCP) through a Whole Foods culinary apprenticeship.  

  • The Deets: The apprentices are available to existing Whole Foods employees. They start with a six-month mentorship program, with weekly webinars and educational trips alongside the (aptly named) online course Cheese 101. The best part? You get paid to learn. 

It sounds all fun and games, but…becoming CCP certified isn’t easy. It requires 4,000 hours of training (for context, the FAA minimum for commercial airline pilots is 1,500 hours) and passing a 150-question, three-hour exam. 

But it pays off. “The fact that [Whole Foods] invests in us so much for education…is a big part of the reason why we come to work every day,” says a CCP certified Whole Foods employee.  

FYI: If cheese isn’t your thing, Whole Foods offers its employees tons of other culinary apprenticeships: Cake decorating, butchery, and soon pizza-making and fish mongering. 👩‍🍳

 3   Acknowledging Native Women’s Equal Pay Day 🙇‍♂️

Grandriver | E+ | Getty


Imagine losing $1.1 million over the course of your career. That’s the difference between being able to buy a home, save for retirement, and start your own business. But for Native women, this isn’t a hypothetical: The wage gap cost them a mind-boggling $28,747 every year, amounting to over a million dollars across a 40-year career.

That’s why we recognize Native Women’s Equal Pay Day. On November 30th, we wrapped up Native American Heritage Month by raising awareness of this pay disparity: Native women working full time, year-round earn 59 cents on the dollar as compared to their non-Hispanic, white male counterparts (and it’s even less if you break it down by Tribal nation). 

  • Zoom Out: Given that 64% of Native women are the primary earners in their families, this wage gap hinders Native communities from building wealth and securing their economic future. 

“What can we do to close the gap?” Glad you asked. Other than raising awareness on social media, you can call on policymakers to pass key pieces of economic legislation. That includes the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Healthy Families Act, and the FAMILY Act, which protects workers by offering paid leave and preventing sex-based pay discrimination.

Meet Layla. 👋 Layla’s a California travel nurse who made $240,000 in 2023…while only working eight months out of the year. The best part of her job? “The freedom and flexibility of travel.” 

Travel nursing sound up your alley? Here’s what you should know: 

  • The Job: Travel nurses are skilled professionals who take temporary nursing positions in hospitals, clinics, and other facilities worldwide. 

  • The Education: Anywhere between 2 to 4 years, depending on the type of nursing you pursue. 

  • The Salary: The average yearly salary is $116,636 (but as Layla showed us, the income potential can be way higher!). 

Learn more about how much travel nurses (and other types of nurses!) make in our nurse compilation video right here.  👇

  • Find out if you’re being fairly compensated (or are due for a salary bump 👀) with our five-minute quiz. 

  • Three reasons to become an actuary: They’re in-demand, can work remotely, and have a median salary of $113,990 per year.

  • Six figures, anyone? Here are the five most in-demand AI jobs companies are hiring for right now. 

  • This IT Consultant earns $158K (plus $20K-$30K in bonuses!) in Washington, DC. 

  • Speaking of IT…Computerworld officially released its 2024 top IT workplaces list.

Thanks for reading! Before we part ways, you should know: Harvard is offering free online classes (no application required!) that could be career game changers: 

You can find the full list right here. Brb, adding “Harvard educated” to our résumés… 🙃

See you next week!

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