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Comparing Consultant Salaries to Epic’s Salary and Bonus Structure
This week several blogs shared an article that pointed to a reddit post about Epic’s salary, raise, and bonus structure. All kinds of interesting posts with an inside look can be found at http://www.reddit.com/r/epicsystems. I was especially interested in the salary piece, although other articles on being a mom while working at Epic or tatoos at Epic are very interesting as well.
The example given in the story from a TS hired in 2011 looks like this:
- Starting (June 2011): 60k
- Bonus (Holiday 2011): 8k
- Spot Bonus (Feb 2012): 1k
- TL Promotion (Mar 2012): No Raise/Bonus
- Year 1 Raise (June 2012): 76k (18%)
- Bonus (Holiday 2012): 6.5k
- Year 2 Raise (June 2013): 84k (10%)
- Left Epic August 2013
Let’s assume this is an average salary and bonus structure, for a job at Epic while living in the Madison, WI area. It’s really a very competitive salary. I went to Money.com to draw up a cost of living comparison. A base salary of $85K in Madison translated to $110K base in Boston, MA (where I live). That is not a far stretch from a typical consultant base salary. Cost of living is much more reasonable in Wisconsin for sure. But the average salary in Madison area is $51,000 based on indeed.com article. Wow, that is a considerable difference and great salary for someone being hired out of college.
I am watching bill rates continue to drop by consulting firms to remain competitive. Along with bill rates, salaries are also declining for Epic consultants. While just 3 years ago my consultants averaged $138 bill rate, today I see a $122 average. Average salaries have dropped from $130K to $118K (not including bonus). Taking the cost of living into consideration here…I may just apply to work at Epic. Don’t forget the benefit of cheese!!
What are your thoughts? Does Epic salary and bonus seem fair in the current market?
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$64K to $84K in two years isn’t bad. Who else gets raises of 18% and 10%? (As a consultant, I haven’t seen a raise in 2 years and there is some talk about low-bill-rate projects beginning to pop up where consultants are asked to take salary cuts). But look at the low starting rate. Factor in too that a TS does’t travel much. Then subtract the penalty for having to live in Madison. Seriously, for a fresh-out-of-school English major with no IT or health care experience, it looks great. (And what does the hospital gladly pay Epic for a bill rate for this kid I’d love to know? And they bitch about my bill rate that’s backed by 10 years of experience and 5 certifications because I’m sold as “just another consultant – we’ve got dozens of ’em”)
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