Issue 43 · June 2026 · Continuity
The one-person office
You did not choose to run on one person. You drifted into it.
rouka · compensation intelligenceBenchmark set 6.2 · September 20265,222 roles · 140 regions · 10 sectors
Journal
Writing on pay, hiring and discretion in the private market.
Issue 42 · June 2026 · Hiring
The shortage is real. The clarity is on you.
The way you describe the job is the part you can fix.
Issue 41 · May 2026 · Retention
The second briefing
The first one gets an interview. The second one gets a resignation.
Earlier issues
40
The briefing you never got
May 2026
39
Nobody audits the advisors
April 2026
38
The $40,000 conversation you aren't having
April 2026
37
The other side doesn't know either
March 2026
36
Your rarity is not what you think it is
March 2026
35
What you don't know before you walk in
February 2026
From the setPublished by rouka
Role note · September 2026
Protocol Manager / Director of Protocol
Seventy-eight roles in the set carry a scarcity of 9 or above. Their median pay is $265K. This one pays $85K, the lowest of the seventy-eight. The next cheapest is last week's aircraft mechanic, at $120K.
Role note · September 2026
Aircraft Mechanic / A&P with IA
Ten to thirty people. Fifty-two roles in the set have a tighter pool than that, and their median pay is $290K. This one pays $120K. Two of the fifty-two pay less, and both are hotel roles with the same size pool.
Role note · September 2026
Family Office CISO
London reads 0.75 of the national baseline and Dubai 0.62. For this seat the international markets sit below the United States, not above it, which is the opposite of what most people assume when they scope it.
Set 6.2 · September 2026
Benchmark set 6.2
The first entry in the record. What the set holds today.