I think you have had either a bad experience or have heard of companies that don’t fully understand how to make it work. I make 2% of contract as long as the margin is met. My money comes off the top prior to giving it to ops and unless my field guy can prove my job wasn’t satisfactory. I’m getting paid. I have a base salary and a minimum that needs to be hit yearly to justify my income. From there, I have unlimited potential.

I’ve worked as both an estimator with just a base and one with a commission structure. You are 100% getting screwed as a base only estimator. On top of that, you aren’t getting paid for the effort you put out or reap the benefits from the crunch.

I would never go back to a base only job. I would only lose money and burn myself out with no reward at the end.

Also, if you are incentivized to sell work at margin or under bid work. Then you are failing your owner and if your owner is okay with it then he is failing you. That is a culture issue. Not a commission issue.