From 50 Lab Hours for €1,500 to 14 Teaching Hours for €2,100
A molecular biology PhD swapped 50 weekly lab hours for under €1,500 for a teaching role: 14 hours and €2,100 net.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
From 50 Lab Hours to 14 Teaching Hours: The Cost of Change
A molecular biology PhD was showing a secondary school group around his lab. He looked at the accompanying teachers: relaxed, unaware of the pressure of publications and projects. He did the math, and it didn't add up. Five years in the lab, 50 hours a week and less than €1,500 a month, compared to a teaching position with 14 teaching hours and €2,100 net. That day, he decided to switch sides. The salary of a vocational training teacher and that of a Spanish researcher have long been measured in different units, and the story of this shift explains why.
The Calculation Separating Lab from Classroom
His career path is linear: doctorate, five years in the lab, 50-hour weeks, high responsibility, and work thoughts carried home. Then, the substitute teacher list, temporary positions, and a permanent vacancy. The result, according to his own calculation: around 600 hours per year by contract, working hours from Tuesday to Friday, term from September 15th to May 15th, three full months of vacation, and two more without students. The net pay, €2,100 over fourteen payments, with June and December around €4,000.
There's a finer breakdown of that equation—meeting hours, on-call duties, regional allowances—that's worth looking at with pencil and paper before drawing conclusions. Because the real cost per hour worked is where most comparisons between public and private sectors break down.
How Many Teaching Hours Are Normal in Spain?
Fourteen weekly teaching hours are not the norm. The usual range is between 18 and 19 hours depending on the region, and some say salaries vary similarly: in Barcelona and Valencia, pay is considerably less than in other territories. There are cases even further from the average, like at official language schools, with 12 teaching hours per week.
At the other extreme is the university. Based on the experience of an assistant in a Mathematics department at Complutense University, a tenured professor could be assigned three hours a week for three months and spend the rest of the year on research that, according to this account, was scarce, earning €2,400 a month in fourteen payments. This is a testimony, not an audit, but it illustrates the system's low end.
Who Pays for the Positions No One Wants to Touch
The classic objection comes quickly: if everyone were a public employee, who would sustain the system? Defenders of the public sector respond with the argument of useful spending—a service in exchange for a salary—and with international comparisons. A forum user points out that South Korea has 8% civil servants and Japan 5.9%, figures used to argue that a state can function with less public employment.
The other flank is debt. With a debt-to-GDP ratio that a forum user places around 120% and a central bank that, it is argued, will one day stop buying debt, the most repeated phrase is that no one is indispensable. The counterpoint comes from experience itself: the public sector is also where you get paid on time when there's nothing left elsewhere.
The 2008 Precedent: Civil Servants Aren't Untouchable Either
Permanent positions protect from dismissal, not from cuts. In 2008 and the trinc years, according to a forum user, there were salary cuts, nominal salary freezes, and withholding of extra payments for several years. Those who boast of being untouchable today should remember those years, and also the qualified engineers who ended up in unqualified jobs outside Spain.
The defense some public employees make for themselves is another: no slacking off during shifts, zero sick days, tasks not listed in the contract. There is, they say, a noisy minority living with minimal effort who tarnish the image of the rest. The statistics for this minority have not been published.
The Other Side: Secondary School Isn't Vocational Training
The most solid counterpoint comes from those who know the classroom from the inside. In Vocational Training, students are usually adults and the curriculum is specific, which reduces the burden. In compulsory secondary education (ESO) and high school, with difficult groups, the situation changes to the point where people speak of "living death". Add to that the location: teaching for over twenty years with an hour's commute each way to the center is not the idyllic scenario sold.
What the Data Doesn't Resolve
There is one figure that is more perplexing than any other. The person who started the discussion admitted to passing the civil service exam practically without studying, because a topic he mastered from his doctorate came up, and the examiner might not have known it in depth. With 600 annual teaching hours, three months of vacation, and a position five minutes from home, the balance is highly favorable. The uncomfortable question is not whether the calculation adds up, but how many people achieve that balance through merit and how many through chance.
A molecular biology PhD was showing a secondary school group around his lab. He looked at the accompanying teachers: relaxed, unaware of the pressure of publications and projects. He did the math, and it didn't add up. Five years in the lab, 50 hours a week and less than €1,500 a month, compared to a teaching position with 14 teaching hours and €2,100 net. That day, he decided to switch sides. The salary of a vocational training teacher and that of a Spanish researcher have long been measured in different units, and the story of this shift explains why.
The Calculation Separating Lab from Classroom
His career path is linear: doctorate, five years in the lab, 50-hour weeks, high responsibility, and work thoughts carried home. Then, the substitute teacher list, temporary positions, and a permanent vacancy. The result, according to his own calculation: around 600 hours per year by contract, working hours from Tuesday to Friday, term from September 15th to May 15th, three full months of vacation, and two more without students. The net pay, €2,100 over fourteen payments, with June and December around €4,000.
There's a finer breakdown of that equation—meeting hours, on-call duties, regional allowances—that's worth looking at with pencil and paper before drawing conclusions. Because the real cost per hour worked is where most comparisons between public and private sectors break down.
How Many Teaching Hours Are Normal in Spain?
Fourteen weekly teaching hours are not the norm. The usual range is between 18 and 19 hours depending on the region, and some say salaries vary similarly: in Barcelona and Valencia, pay is considerably less than in other territories. There are cases even further from the average, like at official language schools, with 12 teaching hours per week.
At the other extreme is the university. Based on the experience of an assistant in a Mathematics department at Complutense University, a tenured professor could be assigned three hours a week for three months and spend the rest of the year on research that, according to this account, was scarce, earning €2,400 a month in fourteen payments. This is a testimony, not an audit, but it illustrates the system's low end.
Who Pays for the Positions No One Wants to Touch
The classic objection comes quickly: if everyone were a public employee, who would sustain the system? Defenders of the public sector respond with the argument of useful spending—a service in exchange for a salary—and with international comparisons. A forum user points out that South Korea has 8% civil servants and Japan 5.9%, figures used to argue that a state can function with less public employment.
The other flank is debt. With a debt-to-GDP ratio that a forum user places around 120% and a central bank that, it is argued, will one day stop buying debt, the most repeated phrase is that no one is indispensable. The counterpoint comes from experience itself: the public sector is also where you get paid on time when there's nothing left elsewhere.
The 2008 Precedent: Civil Servants Aren't Untouchable Either
Permanent positions protect from dismissal, not from cuts. In 2008 and the trinc years, according to a forum user, there were salary cuts, nominal salary freezes, and withholding of extra payments for several years. Those who boast of being untouchable today should remember those years, and also the qualified engineers who ended up in unqualified jobs outside Spain.
The defense some public employees make for themselves is another: no slacking off during shifts, zero sick days, tasks not listed in the contract. There is, they say, a noisy minority living with minimal effort who tarnish the image of the rest. The statistics for this minority have not been published.
The Other Side: Secondary School Isn't Vocational Training
The most solid counterpoint comes from those who know the classroom from the inside. In Vocational Training, students are usually adults and the curriculum is specific, which reduces the burden. In compulsory secondary education (ESO) and high school, with difficult groups, the situation changes to the point where people speak of "living death". Add to that the location: teaching for over twenty years with an hour's commute each way to the center is not the idyllic scenario sold.
What the Data Doesn't Resolve
There is one figure that is more perplexing than any other. The person who started the discussion admitted to passing the civil service exam practically without studying, because a topic he mastered from his doctorate came up, and the examiner might not have known it in depth. With 600 annual teaching hours, three months of vacation, and a position five minutes from home, the balance is highly favorable. The uncomfortable question is not whether the calculation adds up, but how many people achieve that balance through merit and how many through chance.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (247 replies).
More summaries
-
Euthanasia in Old Age: Autonomy vs. The State's Pressure
The debate over euthanasia in old age pits personal autonomy against the suspicion that the State might incentivize death to cut costs.
-
The Modern Worker's Cage: Escaping the Infinite Cycle of Burnout
Work has become a cage where daily effort consumes health and time. Discover why we push ourselves so hard and how to break the cycle.
-
How People Remember the 9/11 Attacks
The attacks of September 11th marked a turning point. Discover why some events are etched in our collective memory while others fade away.
-
Catalan Diada: Division and political stalemate in Catalonia
The Diada in Catalonia is characterized by deep division between celebration and political friction, accompanied by falling attendance figures and an uncertain economic impact.
-
Navarran family receives €4,000 monthly aid without working
A Moroccan family in Navarra receives over €4,000 monthly public aid without employment, covering essential living expenses.
-
Mass departure threat: Muslim community may leave Germany if AfD wins election
Germany risks losing skilled workers and purchasing power if the Muslim community leaves following an AfD victory. We analyze the economic implications.