Why Are Postdocs Paid So Little?

- The average postdoc salary (regardless of experience) is only $46 000 a year. This is below the NIH guidelines for a 0 year postdoc.
- This is because of supply and demand. There is an oversupply of postdocs in academia. Therefore nobody has an obligation to pay postdocs well. They can get away with paying them poorly.
- If you have a PhD, there is no reason for you to stay in academia any longer. Only 0.45% of PhDs will go on to become professors. You do not need a postdoc to transition into industry. Your salary will double (at least) in industry and your skills will be valued.
For more job search tips including a full review of the top 40 Online Networking Scripts For PhDs, get this FREE ebook:
cheekyscientis...

[@jingpengxu923]

School is one of the most lucrative businesses in U.S.

[@suoercell]

Its all well said, too bad I cant find one during this pandemic.

[@neiritanuki2072]

The same for industry jobs.
More companies are hiring more MS and BS grads for R&D these days to cut the cost down. And then, you can hire a small amount of PhDs to manage those MS and BS people.
Unless you are super-confident and in a truly recognized school, dont do a phd at all. Nowadays phd is not very rewarding.
Doesnt matter which country you are from and where you are going.

[@CheekyScientist]

I appreciate your comment and thanks for engaging. Do you have any references for this? The most recent mass bio reports which are excellent to read because 4 out of the 10 cities with the most PhDs and MScs are all in Massachusetts, have shown that more PhDs are hired into STEM jobs than those with master's degrees. I understand your assumption here but this is based on a faulty premise and the opposite is actually true, because PhDs are better at analyzing data and innovating, which is why industry companies want to hire them. Thanks again for commenting.

[@suoercell]

@@CheekyScientist I listened to pretty much all of your video, very inspiring. It really changed my mind. I graduated in this summer 2020 with COVID-19 situation. So I tried hard to try to find an industrial job, but only academic hiring offered me, the industrial job is dying because of the pandemic. All you saying is true, just harder to find an suitable industrial job in 2020.

[@81Heino]

Postdoc positions must be completely canceled. If someone needs some investigations pls hire a scientist and pay his taxes, insurance, health care - just as it is everywhere. In this case, more locals will go for those jobs. Another thing, allow people with PhD to work on 'underqualified' positions, even if it is less paid. Finally, force HRs to write the reason for rejections. Instead of doing their research, postdocs are spending days and years for writting their applications - and have no feedback from those arrogant HRs except of copy-paste answers like "Dear Mr/Mrs (!) ... after careful investigation of...".

[@thefishychannel1420]

its simple why postdocs dont need to be answered. they are barking up the wrong tree so let them suffer. its not the problem of any company

[@81Heino]

@@thefishychannel1420 I wanted to write to you something reasonable. But then I figured out from your comments that you are generally obscessed with people having a PhD title. Good luck.

[@thefishychannel1420]

@@81Heino yes you are right. after living with phd and postdocs, i can see why they are hated by normal people and not welcomed in the real world. The profs are psycopaths and cant have a normal conversation or comprehend life. these are patients and they need electrocution.

[@ramsahu8522]

Sir, What amount paid to Ph D scholars in USA. From India

[@khanalprabhat]

I am finishing my Master's degree very soon. I am wondering whether even PhDs are worth? I am interested to join industry after my studies. And I'm thinking of should I do PhD and go to industry or should I directly go to industry with a master's degree. I have done master's degree in Electrical Engineering, specialisation is RF engineering.

[@nah2860]

khanalprabhat I wouldn't. There is a surplus of PhDs in general. Think of the cost of the doctorate, plus lost income for those six (ish) years. Doesn't make sense to me personally.

[@CheekyScientist]

It's ultimately a question of what you want as a career. If you know you want industry, you should look for an industry position now and start earning what you deserve.

[@sashanealand8315]

hey its double what a PhD student makes! $40,000 sounds like riches to me

[@CheekyScientist]

You are very valuable in industry :)

[@thefishychannel1420]

ur english doesnt make sense. maybe go back and do another phd and waste your life

[@beaulavanderhyde4173]

Is it per month or per annum 46000 dollars for postdoctoral salary

[@dailymotivation11237]

Per annum