The salary debate in Austria will have new inflammatory material: according to the current data from the Austria statistics, officials and contractors have had the front with the collective salary increases in the past three years. Although employees were able to register strong increases, the public staff was a bit over it every year – and that is true.
The high inflation of recent years also drove wages. But not everyone benefited right away. In 2022, employees’ salaries increased by three percent, while officials and contractual employees received 3.1 percent more. A minimal difference? At first glance yes. But the scissors continued to open.
Hunting more salary: who is more out of it?
In 2023 it was really uphill: employees could look forward to an average plus of 7.3 percent – but the publicly staffed went again with 7.6 percent, this time clearer. The real hammer came in 2024: last year the officials cut off by no less than 9.4 percent, while employees “only” received “8.4 percent more (see image). A whole percentage point differs – and it is noticeable in the wallet.
Why do civil servants have an advantage?
Experts refer to the various negotiating mechanisms. Although the salaries of employees are often negotiated in various high -competitive collective agreements in various partially high -competitive collective agreements, officials follow their own rules. The public service has responded more to inflation in recent years, sometimes also by adjusting the basic salaries.
The tariff index that collects this data is considered an important indicator of wage negotiations. He measures the minimum collective agreement. And this shows that the public sector has done better in current inflation of inflation the year after year.
What do the trade unions say?
The representatives of the employees see the development critical. “The gap between civil servants and private employees should not go up,” says Union Circles.
The other side, on the other hand, argues that civil servants have to stop for a long time during salary adjustments and only experience a balance. Moreover, the structures in public service are different – for example because of less variable, ie success -dependent salary components.
What is the following?
The discussion is likely to come up again in the next wages of the employees. In public service, employees and employers already agreed last year about a degree of two years: the next plus point for civil servants and contractors will therefore be 0.3 percent above inflation. But if inflation remains high, this will lead to discussions. The question is: can employees catch up this time – or are the officials expanding their leadership?
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
