5 Problems Only Bosses And Managers Understand

2 min read By eCompareMo on February 11, 2016

Yes, it’s quite lonely at the top.

There is more to a high-level position than prestige, high salaries, and a swanky office with a view of the city skyline. Most of the company’s crucial decisions rest on you, and most everyone in the office covets your position.

And then there’s money: people assume you’re swimming in it, which may be true in most cases, but really it’s much more complicated than that.

Whoever said that having a highfaluting job title is all sunshine and rainbows has probably never been there. Even with all the glitz and the glamor of a high-paying job, there are a number of downsides that only a few people understand. Here are some of them.

1. Taxes

According to human resources website PayScale, the average annual salary of a chief executive officer in the Philippines is P2.98 million—a delightful thing, if you ask the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The BIR says people who earn more than P500,000 annually have to pay P125,000 in taxes and 32% of any amount in excess of that rate. With a little math, one can arrive at a number: P898,266.36. Yes, that should be the average annual withholding tax paid by CEOs in the country.

(See Related Topic: INFOGRAPHIC: Good Boss Vs. Bad Boss)

2. Long working hours

Executive-level jobs aren’t all about pushing pens and signing documents. Harvard Business Review asked around 500 executives, managers, and professionals and found out that they work for a total of 72 hours per week, as opposed to the bundy-clock employees only who only work for 40 hours a week on average.

3. Higher job risks

How Stuff Works says skyscrapers can sway for up to several feet due to wind resistance. While this may be the realm of science and engineering, this is also applicable to people in managerial positions. People up there are more prone to risks, since they call the big shots and make decisions that can make a company sink or swim. One misstep and the first high wind could blow you off your high horse. And this includes legal liabilities that their subordinates are normally free from.

4. Sudden eviction

Parachute Executive Coaching’s Karen Wright says that when a company has a rough year, managers and executives usually get the flak and are most likely to lose their jobs. “If a company has had a tough year yet there has been no impact on executive compensation, the shareholders will likely have something to say about it,” she told Yahoo! Finance.

(See Also: 8 Traits Of An Ideal Employee)

5. The affluenza

When your salary goes up along with your title, some people tend to celebrate by bumping up their lifestyle. After all, who doesn’t want to have a flashy new watch, executive-class cars, and bespoke suits to match one’s corporate status? In layman’s terms, this is called the affluenza. According to Investopedia, affluenza is a social condition arising from the desire to be wealthier, more successful, or to “keep up with the Joneses.” By seeing their counterparts living the luxurious life, some executives get sucked in this spiral and join this arms race of possessions and financial wealth. Left unchecked, affluenza may even spell one man’s financial doom if a person’s lifestyle starts to prove debilitating to their finances. –Dino Mari Testa