Salary as a bone of contention

Strike planned: How well off are civil servants really?

Being a civil servant in Austria has its advantages and disadvantages.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Franz Pfluegl)

The salary negotiations for civil servants began on Monday. The Civil Service Union (GÖD) is demanding a sustainable increase in salaries and allowances and is even holding out the prospect of a strike. Krone+ took a look at the state of the civil service in Austria and whether complaining is really appropriate.

Job stability, training opportunities, full pay during illness - life as a civil servant in the Republic of Austria has its advantages. You can also overlook the fact that the reputation - especially in administrative jobs - is not always the greatest. Civil servants are often criticized for the pace at which they work. 

In the public eye, civil servants are perceived as office jerks, especially since the TV hit "MA 2412". Yet they are deployed in many areas: police officers, teachers, judges, school inspectors and nurses are all civil servants, as are military personnel. A total of 797,300 people were employed by the state in 2024. This also includes social insurance institutions, chambers and around 400 institutions with their own legal personality such as universities, funds and associations.

Around 136,000 civil servants work for the federal government itself, 147,000 people are employed by the provinces and 86,000 by municipalities. In the federal states, Vienna has the lion's share of civil servants with 47,245, followed by Lower Austria (26,207) and Upper Austria (21,327).

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Scandinavians with the highest rate
In an international comparison, relatively few people (17 percent) work in the public sector in Austria. The OECD average is 18.6 percent. The proportion is extremely high in Scandinavia in particular. In Norway, almost one in three people are employed by the state. In Japan, the figure is only 4.6 percent.

But what about the civil service in Austria? Are they right to demand salary increases? If we compare the incomes of public servants with blue-collar and white-collar workers in the private sector, one thing is clear: blue-collar workers earn the least at an average of EUR 39,248 per year (data from Statistics Austria from 2022). Salaried employees in the private sector have a gross annual income of 67,663 euros, while civil servants earn 60,419 euros. However, these statistics should be treated with caution. This is because neither age nor qualifications were taken into account. The fact that civil servants are on average more than five years older than the rest of the workforce shows that there is significantly more money to be earned in the private sector. This is also reflected in the following sample calculation:

In the graph, the development of income between two fictitious persons - a civil servant with a public employment contract and an employee in the private sector - was compared. Two current job offers with similar qualifications were used to determine the starting salary. In the service of the state, around 500 euros more salary was offered. 

Rapid promotion guaranteed
As the collective agreement for employees of companies in the field of automatic data processing and information technology services clearly regulates job families and advancement levels, an employee in the private sector is quickly on the fast track. Three years after starting their career, they move up to the entry level, another three years later to the standard level and four years later to the experience level. These leaps are linked to fixed salary increases.

A two percent inflation rate over the next 45 years was assumed for both occupational groups. Promotion to managerial positions took place at the same time after the 34th year of employment. The well-deserved retirement was at the age of 65. While the civil servant's last pay slip shows gross earnings of almost 12,000 euros, the employee's gross earnings are over 15,000 euros. Sounds like a lot! And it is. However, we are already in the year 2069 when we retire!

Advantages of a civil servant
There are differences between civil servants with a public employment contract and private employees, particularly when it comes to social insurance. Civil servants are insured by BVAEB, just like employees in the mining industry and the railroads. This insurance covers part of the costs of oral hygiene, for example, and also provides other benefits such as first-class rooms (if available) in hospitals or your own doctors of choice. However, small deductibles must be paid for almost all treatments.

Major differences in pensions
One of the biggest differences concerns the pension. For civil servants with a public employment contract, the contributions remain within the organization. This means that the employer (federal, state or local government) is also responsible for paying the pension. A number of civil servants independently confirm that they do not lose out under this arrangement. However, this pension rule does not apply to civil servants who are employed as contract staff (the majority of teachers).

The main advantage of the civil servant pension is that there has been no upper limit to date. In other words, pensions were paid out in full - normal pensions for blue-collar and white-collar workers are subject to a maximum assessment base of 6060 euros. This means that immensely high pensions can be paid out, which would not be possible in the private sector. A cap will not be introduced until 2025.

Pragmatization is the greatest advantage of being a civil servant, especially in difficult economic times. A six-year, provisional pragmatization will then become a permanent pragmatization - provided there is nothing wrong with it (again: this does not apply to contract staff). This gives the civil servant protection against dismissal, which can only be revoked in the event of gross misconduct. However, this has only happened in the rarest of cases. The only catch: a positive service test is required for a permanent job guarantee.