In my 10+ years of playing tabletop games I have never reached level 20 so I am not too concerned with what happens at higher levels.
Even if you are a level 20 computer programmer, weekly work is still only going to get you weekly income.
Since I responded to the one flagged as a double and it'll probably get deleted...
You're missing some bonuses, there. Professional Tools add +4 to the roll and Professional clothing adds +1 to the roll, and both of those are available (and affordable) at level 1. That's an extra 10 credits per week to all of your numbers.
Also, the minimum roll on a profession check should be 10, because there's no reason you can't take 10 on those rolls. Some GM's may not see it that way, of course, but it fits the criteria for taking 10. Of course, that means you're always getting that 'average' roll and don't have a chance a the max, but I can't remember the last time I actually rolled a profession check (or similar) in game. I always just take 10.
I think that you're correct that it's odd that super high level characters earn so little with the check compared to lower level ones. I'm hoping Armory includes some higher level/more expensive tool kits for increasing your profession check more. That being said, this is something an adventurer PC would generally do as side work during downtime. You're basically a 'freelancer' picking up whatever work is available when you have time. I would expect someone working 'full time' at this (like a high level NPC) would earn more than a PC would for the same profession check. Based on the chart in services for 'professional freelancer' they earn bonus*2 per day (not week), so this seems at least on the surface to be true, though, that's still a linear check and not exponential or logarithmic as I'd expect it. But that's purely a guess on my part. If I had to write the rules, I'd probably make it 2n*log(n) for NPC's working 'full time' at their profession.
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I work a professional day job in the real world. I'm okay with my sci fi fantasy escapism assuming that my techno-wizard gets most of his income from killing punks that mess with the Starfinder Society, and that the freelance IT tech work he does on the side has only modest returns, no matter how good my wizardry is.
Remember, the rules aren't "World of Starfinder: Day Job Simulator," it's "Starfinder: Have Cool Adventures, Amigos!" I'm sure that Day Job Simulator will sell like gangbusters and be very popular, though...
A week of work, assuming you're only modestly decent at level 1 is 2*(10+1+3+2+1+4)=42 Credits/week or 6 Credits/day. That's enough to have an R2E every day and a night in a sleep pod and still have 4 credits left over each day to spend on 4 pints of beer.
...Sounds about right to me, for freelance work.
Don't think of it as how little it pays you to do your boring day job, think of it as how cheap it is to hire someone to work for you on your ship.
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I always assumed when PCs use profession checks the wonkiness comes in because they're not really doing a conventional work period. Basically they're jumping in as temp work, rustling something up associated with their skills but well below 'adventuring' tier. Super safe but then super low in rewards relatively.
On the other hand, in a narrative sense if they actually got a long term job and became functionally an NPC working for a group/etc, they could have salaries or whatever. I just figured the rules were intentionally weak so even they have 'off time' its not a real replacement for being a PC adventurer.
You're not a full-time wage worker, you're a part-timer.
Even if you were full-time, and accounted for all of the costs and benefits that, as previous posters have suggested, factor into these net gains (be glad we don't have to calculate rent or taxes), it shouldn't get you as much net worth as smuggling contraband through the Azlanti Empire or plundering the ancient technology of lost moon. If it did, why wouldn't PCs just sit and do that?
I might consider something like that with some characters. Let's see, optimizing for profession (assuming my Profession ability is maxed)...
Take 10 + Ranks 20 + Class Skill 3 + Max Ability 9 + Icon Theme 1 + Operative Edge 6 + Profession Tools 4 + Profession Outfit 1 = 54.
That's 108 base Credits/week 'freelancing'. If there were a feat that let me double that to 216 and I had a profession that I could do 'remotely' so I could take advantage of it during drift travel or whatever, I'd certainly consider it, especially if we're not playing in a campaign where it's always rush rush rush to the next plot point.
That's 3 "good" meals, a private 4 bedroom suite, and a six pack of beer every day, without cutting into my 'bullet' money.
I recently took a look at the "Earn a Living" section of the Profession skill in Starfinder.
As has no doubt already been mentioned, it seems designed strictly for off-hours Profession use by adventurers deriving their primary wealth from elsewhere.
One might want to homebrew something if the possibility of adventures actually revolving around, say, staging a rock and roll tour or a speaking engagement is a thing in your campaign. It is in mine -- along with an elaborate mechanic for determining how many Views the characters' reality show, which conceit is the centrepiece of their adventures, garners on a given outing -- and I came up with this crazy bantha-pudu adapted from the old ShadowBeat supplement for 1e Shadowrun and calibrated to Starfinder's Wealth By Level guidelines*. You might find it useful for some ideas.
* Fair warning: I have yet to actually use the money-making part of that rules widget.
I mean, if we wanted to go further into it, there's no reason that such an advanced society, especially one anchored in Abadar, and already possesses things like nigh-Megacorps, wouldn't have a system to make 'extra' money like we do irl.
Adventurers take their stash of whatever they're willing to put down (Credit wise) into some money market account or something, or something really safe if they want and get a flat annual return. But since the focus of money in SF remains "to buy stuff" as opposed to real life concepts of "retire + good life", how PCs obtain money is wonky compared to how everyone else would to try to live normal lives.
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You can have my 401k when you pry it from my cold alien tentacles.
Aren't those respectively Profession (smuggler) and Profession (archaeologist)?You're not a full-time wage worker, you're a part-timer.
Even if you were full-time, and accounted for all of the costs and benefits that, as previous posters have suggested, factor into these net gains (be glad we don't have to calculate rent or taxes), it shouldn't get you as much net worth as smuggling contraband through the Azlanti Empire or plundering the ancient technology of lost moon. If it did, why wouldn't PCs just sit and do that?
Sort of. But using it via Profession as opposed to 'adventure challenge' results in much less returns, because the risks (and consequently the Challenge Rating) are less. In a narrative sense, I'd say using Profession Smuggle reflects a period of time (usually short) that you're move low risk, low return items that happen to be available during that time, vs "I'm taking my ship full of contraband and flying past border patrols, etc". And Profession Archeology as "help out in a museum/id something for a client" than "going to get the Ark from the Nazis"
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Heck, making weekly money with "Profession Smuggler" may just be getting paid to edit the SmugWiki for a week to take out bad advice.
REMEMBER: Don't get too smug when you're smuggling. Smugs get (their graves) dug.
DO: Fly casual.
DON'T: Shoot the radio when the questions get too difficult.