2024-07-05 12:48:39
“We could use more courage. Even in my bubble, I perceive that the determination to ask for a higher salary is really quite low,” says economist Daniel Münich. He also sees the ossification of the labor market as a problem. Czechs rarely change jobs, yet it is precisely when they change jobs that the most significant salary increases occur.
Video: Oldřich Neumann, Spotlight Team
“It is necessary for salaries in the public sector to keep up with the development of wages in the private sector,” says the Munich economist. In recent years, public salaries have fallen significantly behind, and according to the expert, the primary problem is not the low wages themselves, but the departure of employees as a result of them. “Keeping salaries at the current level with relatively dynamic wage growth in the private sector is not sustainable even in the medium term. The good people will run away,” he adds.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in response to the tripartite negotiations on raising the salaries of civil servants, reiterated that the government must get public finances back in shape. However, according to economist Daniel Münich, widespread consolidation is not functional. “It’s not just about whether we want to give or not. It’s about whether we want to have a functional state. The government faces this dilemma,” says the economist.
Systemic restructuring, savings and higher efficiency should also go hand in hand with raising salaries in the state sector. However, there was no significant decrease in the number of employees in the ministries. “It is difficult to save when no measures have been taken to increase the efficiency of the functioning of the state,” says Münich.