Wants to drop initial salary (8)
I believe the answer is:
earnings
'salary' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'wants to drop initial' is the wordplay.
'wants' becomes 'yearnings' (a yearning feeling is a feeling of want).
'to drop initial' means to remove the first letter.
'yearnings' with its first letter taken away is 'EARNINGS'.
(Other definitions for earnings that I've seen before include "Money gained in work" , "Moneys brought in for grannies" , "Profits, incomes" , "Pay" , "Profits from a venture" .)