Public salaries higher than private ones (and also with more protection): the Corriere.it comparison

If not the same, certainly not less. In some cases more. And with more certainty. Nice audience to read the data of second semi-annual report of the Aran on the salaries of civil servants where the salaries of ministries, tax agencies and local functions are examined and compared with some private sectors. We need to tell a new story – says the president of Aran Antonio Naddeo -: the public administration is changing, the prospects for professional growth are increasingly interesting, we have to deal with the new generations.

Salaries in the public

Senior managers are excluded from the analysis, but officials are considered, mostly involving young graduates. For a young man entering a ministry, the average fixed gross annual salary is very similar to that in the private sector: 32,800 euros. With the addition of the variable part, the figure can reach 37,300 euros. The salaries in local functions are more contained with a gross salary of 29,900 and 38,000 euros. For a tax agency official, the average gross salary rises to 41,000 euros. If, on the other hand, the net is considered, the average salary becomes around 23,800 for ministries, 24,200 for local functions, 25,500 for the tax agencies, which make around 1,800-2,000 euros per month for thirteen months.

The comparison

In 2021, the average gross annual salary of a Public Administration employee was 31,766 euros against a national average for the same category of the private sector of 30,836. In the private sector, it ranges from a maximum of 34,288 euros gross per year in the banking and financial services sector to a minimum of 27,515 euros gross per year for the tourism and travel sector. It also emerges that the salary of employees in the private sectors of transport and logistics (31,619) and building and construction (31,484) is very close to that of public employees.

Skills

For high levels of professionalism in the Public Administration, the range ranges from a minimum of 50,000 euros to a maximum of 70,000 euros for ministries and tax agencies, higher levels than for local functions, which varies from 29,835 euros to 55,035 euros. However, these are salaries for ministries and agencies in line with those of the private sector where the national average annual gross salary of middle managers is €56,981. Local Functions, on the other hand, show lower salary levels.

Stability and rights

So why is a debate on the unattractiveness of the public workplace fueled by highlighting the low level of salaries? Naddeo wonders: The report shows that from an average point of view, the salary levels of public officials are placed in the middle of the table compared to the private sector. But then there are other factors to consider, he explains, such as the stability of the job that has no equal and respect for workers’ rights fully protected by national collective agreements, which does not always happen – says Naddeo – in the private sector in the same way.

A more attractive Pope

If anything, the real question is to make the Public Administration more attractive for those looking for a job. Especially in an important phase of the country in which, after years of hiatus, public competitions are restarting, there is a turnover to cover and the challenge of the Pnrr to be taken up with the need for increasingly competent and specialized figures. (Here the single platform for recruitment in the Pa https://www.inpa.gov.it/).
This is why Aran itself (Agency for the Negotiating Representation of Public Administrations) is organizing an open day for next 21 June to better tell its story: The Public Administration is changing – reflects Naddeo -: the prospects for professional growth are increasingly interesting, we have to discuss with the new generations. ([email protected])