Job Placement · Sales · Account Executive
Median AE on target earnings reached $200,000 in 2026, up from $190,000 in 2024, against a median quota of $960,000, a 4.6 times quota-to-OTE ratio. Only 48 percent of AEs hit quota, down from 51 percent, and ramp to full productivity now runs 6.2 months, the slowest on record. Companies also require 3.7 years of experience at hire, up from 2.7 in 2022. BEG fills this Tier II seat in 23 to 35 days for $9,381 to $11,257.
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TL;DR
BLS prices the closest occupation code, 41-4012, sales representatives of wholesale and manufacturing except technical and scientific products, at a median of 72,080 across 1,238,190 workers in May 2025, and projects it to shrink 1 percent by 2035 even as the wider wholesale and manufacturing rep group produces about 123,400 openings a year, most from replacement. That BLS figure is not what a quota-carrying AE is comparing. The Bridge Group’s 2026 AE report puts median on target earnings at 200,000, up from 190,000 in 2024 and 167,000 in 2022, against a median quota of 960,000, a 4.6 times quota-to-OTE ratio, up from 4.2 times in 2024. Only 48 percent of AEs hit quota, down from 51 percent, ramp to full productivity now runs 6.2 months, the highest in the study’s history, and companies require 3.7 years of experience at hire, up from 2.7 in 2022. BEG runs this as a Tier II milestone search, fixed at 9,381 to 11,257 when the search starts.
The Quota-to-OTE Ratio Keeps Climbing
Because OTE has risen faster than attainment has kept up. A $960,000 quota now sits at 4.6 times pay, only 48 percent of AEs hit it, and ramp alone takes over half a year.
Where The Plan, Then The Ramp, Stalls
Four things happen in sequence, and the first is simply whether the plan is written down before the first interview.
| Stage | What the plan requires | Where it stalls |
|---|---|---|
| Publish the OTE, quota and territory before interviewing | Median AE OTE is $200,000 against a $960,000 quota, a 4.6 times ratio candidates already know from their current plan. | A posting that states base salary alone and leaves OTE, quota and territory blank reads as a plan that has not been finished yet. |
| Screen for the experience the seat now requires | Companies require 3.7 years of experience at AE hire, up from 2.7 years in 2022, as the era of the junior AE is largely over at higher ASPs. | A requisition still budgeted for a 2.7 year candidate competes for talent that has already priced itself out of that budget. |
| Build a 6.2 month ramp into the first year number | Ramp to full productivity now averages 6.2 months, the highest the Bridge Group has recorded, tied to deal complexity and buying committee size. | A quota that assumes month-one productivity manufactures an early miss that was never really a performance problem. |
| Confirm who owns renewal and expansion before the offer | 38 percent of AEs now hold sole or blended ownership of renewal and expansion, nearly double 2024, most pronounced under a $25,000 ASP. | An offer silent on renewal ownership gets renegotiated the first time a renewal lands on the AE’s desk unannounced. |
None of this is a talent shortage. 1,238,190 people already hold the closest BLS occupation code. It is a plan design and experience-bar filter, and a requisition that states the real OTE, quota and ramp period closes faster than one that leaves candidates to guess.
What Contingency Would Cost Instead
A contingency recruiter charging 20 percent to 25 percent of first year salary would run $14,416 to $18,020 at the $72,080 BLS median for this occupation code, or $40,000 to $50,000 against the $200,000 Bridge Group OTE figure the strongest candidates are actually paid. BEG prices this seat as a Tier II engagement, fixed at $9,381 to $11,257 when the search starts, 23 to 28 percent of a 20 percent contingency fee measured against OTE, and 65 to 78 percent of it measured against the BLS median alone.
What An Empty Territory Costs Meanwhile
At the $960,000 median quota the Bridge Group reports, an open AE territory is roughly $18,462 a week of pipeline with no owner to close it, before counting the 38 percent of accounts that now carry renewal and expansion responsibility alongside new business. A vacant territory does not pause. It just accumulates against whoever inherits it.
Filling The Territory Versus Renting It
A fractional or interim rep can hold meetings. Only a permanent AE carries the quota and the renewal relationship that follows it.
| Model | Who employs the worker | How you pay | Right when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional / interim AE coverage | The staffing or fractional firm | Hourly or monthly rate for pipeline coverage without quota ownership | You need a territory minded through a leave or a transition, not a rep who signs for the number. |
| Contingency recruiter | You | 20 percent to 25 percent of first year salary, $14,416 to $50,000 depending on the pay figure used | You will accept a fee that swings with whichever number the offer gets measured against, in exchange for paying nothing up front. |
| BEG permanent placement | You | Tier II milestone fee, $9,381 to $11,257, fixed at the start | You are hiring an AE to own a territory and its renewals permanently, and want the fee known before the search starts. |
Coverage keeps a territory from going silent. Ownership is what closes it, and pricing coverage like a quota-carrying hire is a common way this budget goes wrong. Full detail on the sales placement hub.
FAQ
23 to 35 days from discovery call to signed offer on average, with an 86% fill rate on active searches, based on isolved placement data. Searches with an unwritten comp plan tend to run toward the long end.
A Tier II milestone fee of $9,381 to $11,257, fixed before the search starts. A 20 percent contingency fee would run $14,416 at the $72,080 BLS median, or up to $50,000 measured against the $200,000 Bridge Group OTE figure.
The closest BLS code, 41-4012, prices this seat at a $72,080 median. The Bridge Group’s 2026 report puts median AE on target earnings at $200,000, nearly triple that figure, against a $960,000 median quota.
4.6 times, up from 4.2 times in 2024, on a median quota of $960,000 and median OTE of $200,000, per the Bridge Group. SaaS companies reported a lower median quota of $875,000.
48 percent in 2026, down from 51 percent in 2024, with the distribution shifting toward fewer companies in the 50 to 90 percent range. RepVue’s Q4 2025 cloud index put attainment at 43.83 percent across 272 companies.
6.2 months to full productivity, the highest the Bridge Group has recorded, which it ties to deal complexity and buying committee size at higher ASPs.
3.7 years at hire on average, up from 2.7 years in 2022. The Bridge Group says the era of the junior AE is largely over at higher ASPs.
38 percent of AEs now hold sole or blended ownership of renewal and expansion, nearly double the 2024 share, most pronounced on accounts under a $25,000 ASP.
No. BEG places a permanent AE your company employs directly, for a fixed Tier II fee. If the actual need is interim coverage through a leave or a transition, say so on the discovery call, and a staffing or fractional firm, not BEG, is the right vendor.
A 45-day replacement guarantee applies. With only 48 percent of AEs hitting quota industry wide, it is worth confirming how any recruiter structures a replacement search before signing.
Organizations in the highest AI engagement tercile reported 57 percent of reps at quota versus 39 percent in the lowest, per the Bridge Group, though 10 of the 11 AI-assisted workflows it tracked were rated hit or miss by a plurality of respondents.
This seat runs a named territory or book with a closed-won quota on deals an SDR sourced. The senior or enterprise AE carries the largest accounts, the longest cycles and a quota in the high six figures or above.
Hiring around this seat? See SDR, senior / enterprise AE, or all sales placement.
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