Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

[Bazra]

The typical college grad, after 4 years of school and often tens of thousands in student loan debt can expect to make $30,000 a year or less (if they can get a job at all now). An experienced 5+ year professional in demand can make $60,000 a year. Of course this varies from industry to industry, from city to city, but my point is this: Massage Therapists typically think in terms of hours, most other professions think in terms of a year when it comes to income. And when you start your career you make less than when you are experienced.

There's an unrealistic gap in expectations in most new MT's (and often in experienced ones too).


How would you answer this question:

A) If I agreed to pay you $40,000 a year, would you work for me full time as a massage therapist?

B) If I paid you $20/hour, would you work for me full time as a massage therapist?


How many said "YES!" to A and "NO WAY!" to B? I'll bet many did - am I right?


Guess what - they're absolutely the same. Two weeks off, 40 hours a week. It's the same damn thing. Ok, Ok, I can already hear the comment of "Wait, wait, no therapist works 40 hours a week!" Well, you certainly can, and I certainly have, but for arguments sake let's say you think 30 hours a week is more reasonable. Equivalent hourly rate? $26.66 (that's not including tip income). The tip is another 10-20% bonus, so now your making almost $50,000 a year working 30 hours and charging $26.66.


What continues to boggle my mind is how few MT's get this and absolutely REFUSE to work for less than $60/$70 an hour. What's $60 an hour + 10% in tips working 30 hours a week? $99,000 a year. If I offered you a job working 30 hours a week for $100,000 a year, would you feel good about taking it? I can tell you most doctors would jump on that opportunity.


I've created an easy to use worksheet online to calculate your annual income given your hourly rate, hours worked per week and weeks off per year. If you have other therapists working for you, fill out the bottom section too and you can see what they contribute to your income. I'm not posting the link as I'm unsure whether the MassagePlanetL rules allow me to do so. Upon approval by a Moderator I'll gladly add it to this post.

 

[meatball7]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

I looked at your "MT Annual Income Calculator" spreadsheet and plugged in some numbers. While it generates some basic gross income numbers, it doesn't address any of the realities of running a practice, such as rent, utilities, licensing, insurance, equipment/maintenance expenses, linens/laundry, transportation, advertising, charitable giving, etc.

If your spreadsheet is to be of use, it should have places to plug in those and other costs of running a practice. Yes, that means filling in many more blanks, often with estimated numbers. However, it would give the user a somewhat better idea of NET income (profit) - which is what having a business is all about.

 

[MattMCFC]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

Like Jason was saying their is a lot of over head in doing massage.

Around here (the Denver meto area) the only people making $60-$70 a massage are in nice areas where rent is high. A lot of the places in cheaper rent areas are selling massages for $45-$50.

I think a lot of the false numbers out there come from the massage school industry.
The schools like people to think if they buy an education from the school they can run out and make $60-$80 an hour. this is a lie. only if you are really good and have a good client base in an wealthy part of town and even then you are going to pay a lot.. in rent and overhead.

A) If I agreed to pay you $40,000 a year, would you work for me full time as a massage therapist?

B) If I paid you $20/hour, would you work for me full time as a massage therapist?

Now if You are paying all overhead and just paying me to show up and work I might consider this and I agree $20 an hour is about the same as 40k a year. But massage is hard work.. and these prices are not the spectacular. If I had no other decent options maybe.

 

[Intan S.]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

A) If I agreed to pay you $40,000 a year, would you work for me full time as a massage therapist?

B) If I paid you $20/hour, would you work for me full time as a massage therapist?

Now if You are paying all overhead and just paying me to show up and work I might consider this and I agree $20 an hour is about the same as 40k a year.

That is exactly what he is saying, when he says " would you work for me..."

But massage is hard work.. and these prices are not the spectacular. If I had no other decent options maybe.

Don't forget this figure does not include tips, which in the spa side of thing would be closer to 40%-50% additionally.

We have looked at paying MTs a salary, plus tips. Would certainly make like easier for everyone -- employees could budget with decent certainty since they know their income and average tips, and employers could pretty much lay off their bookkeeper.

I don't think such a compensation scheme would go over well. Too many years and too much of a % mentality in the industry to overcome the many -- though not always logical -- objections.

Our philosophy is, the harder you work, the more money you make. Massage is hard work, so when you do 2x as many massages on Tuesday than you did on Monday, you should make 2x the $$. Under a salary pay scheme, this does not happen. Only your tips increase the harder you work, and some place that have used a similar comp scheme -- now-defunct Spa Chakra comes to mind -- paid a salary with NO tips, so your income never changed based on effort. That strikes us as against the human spirit and dreadfully socialistic!

The same is true, to a lesser extent, of the "Hourly + %" plans that Ritz Carlton and other use. 2x the massages usually means just 50% more pay, depending on the actual volumes involved.

 

[who da man?]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

Research into human motivation has demonstrated that, outside of repetitive, mechanistic labor devoid of the need to think critically and/or creatively, financial incentives alone are of limited value. In general, the more thinking required, the less effective monetary bonuses become, and the less job satisfaction such employees will have... if monetary compensation is the ONLY compensation.

Here's a great little video that illustrates (literally) those concepts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

This is not a criticism of anyone's pay/compensation structure, but rather food for thought. Many people are willing to work for lower wages if they take great personal satisfaction in their work, for whatever reason. Many even donate endless hours of time just because they care about whatever-it-is. Wikipedia is a perfect example - thousands (millions) of people around the globe have voluntarily contributed, annotated, and updated an incredible amount of content for ZERO compensation.

If therapists are happy with the place they work, feel like they have some autonomy, and derive real satisfaction from their work... well, that stacks up well against $2-5/hour more pay in a less enjoyable situation.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

Research into human motivation has demonstrated that, outside of repetitive, mechanistic labor devoid of the need to think critically and/or creatively, financial incentives alone are of limited value. In general, the more thinking required, the less effective monetary bonuses become, and the less job satisfaction such employees will have... if monetary compensation is the ONLY compensation.

My experience has been the exact opposite. The more thinking required, the more people expect to be compensated for their talent to think and deliver results, and tie their job satisfaction to being rewarded accordingly.

Wikipedia is a perfect example - thousands (millions) of people around the globe have voluntarily contributed, annotated, and updated an incredible amount of content for ZERO compensation.

I think that is a rotten example. Wikipedia gives people a chance to show off what they know, without criticism, judgement or peer review. Who wouldn't want to be the "expert" on their chosen corner of the arcane? It's called a hobby, which by definition is done for the love, not the compensation.

 

[Alexei]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

Research into human motivation has demonstrated that, outside of repetitive, mechanistic labor devoid of the need to think critically and/or creatively, financial incentives alone are of limited value. In general, the more thinking required, the less effective monetary bonuses become, and the less job satisfaction such employees will have... if monetary compensation is the ONLY compensation.

My experience has been the exact opposite. The more thinking required, the more people expect to be compensated for their talent to think and deliver results, and tie their job satisfaction to being rewarded accordingly.

That's exactly why I raised this point. I was shocked to see the information for myself, but now it has me rethinking what I "know" about motivation and effective rewards. Monetary compensation and job satisfaction are not necessarily related. But, if you expand the definition of compensation to include non-monetary work attributes or rewards, it is possible to greatly increase job satisfaction without greatly increasing payroll expenses.

Wikipedia is a perfect example - thousands (millions) of people around the globe have voluntarily contributed, annotated, and updated an incredible amount of content for ZERO compensation.

I think that is a rotten example. Wikipedia gives people a chance to show off what they know, without criticism, judgement or peer review. Who wouldn't want to be the "expert" on their chosen corner of the arcane? It's called a hobby, which by definition is done for the love, not the compensation.

Wikipedia actually has a fairly sophisticated form of peer review that includes plenty of criticism and judgement. If you went into a Wikipedia entry and started changing facts and adding/deleting stuff, your changes would be very short-lived. Why? Because many people are keeping a round-the-clock eye on what changes are made and whether they add value/accuracy to an entry or not. Adverse changes are quickly undone, and factual updates are ruthlessly checked by other hobbyists, many of whom actually are experts in their fields..

And yes, it's done for the love of the work. My challenge as an employer is to discover how my employees can apply their love for doing good work in a way that increases job satisfaction and dedication to helping the business grow.

In manufacturing, the Six Sigma philosophy of continual improvement has lead to incredibly inspired employee contributions to process and product improvements.
A key to that success has been training teams of people how understand the process and work together to identify and implement changes for the good of all. Massage is not (at least, SHOULD NOT be) run like manufacturing, but some of those concepts are still applicable.

People generally want to do good work, especially if they understand how their contributions contribute to the success of the team. How can we, as employers, enable them to truly enjoy what they do and thereby derive more satisfaction from doing their best?

 

[Beverly]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

What continues to boggle my mind is how few MT's get this and absolutely REFUSE to work for less than $60/$70 an hour

If they can make this kind of money, why shouldn't they?
Earnings are not tied to what a person deserves and doesn't deserve, it is determined by what the market will bare.

If they insist upon that amount of pay, but sit around with no work, then they are only hurting themselves.

If they insist upon those wages, and get it, what is the problem?

It's a self correcting issue

 

[~ Dan ~]

Would you accept a $40,000/yr massage job?

I think this is the current scenario, massage is gaining equal importance and awareness amongst people and has really helped the industry grow. How much do you think a Physical therapist earns? I am sure they earn more than a massesue. What is the difference between the two? they both help you to relax and relieve stress and feel better. Also it is difficult to conclude how much a massage therapist earns, it varies from states and also depends on whether they work in a spa chain or as an individual therapist or in a hospital, cruise or hotel. I think it is unfair to conclude unless they have standard rates.