Public-private wage divide gets 50% wider

Cannon_Fodder

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=472392&in_page_id=2&ct=5

"State workers now earn an average £62 a week more than their private sector counterparts - a 50 per cent increase in the differential since 2004."


Had never noticed this stat before, so had some sympathy for the Public Sector "needing" their good pensions to offset their (anecdotally) poor wages...

Why the jump after 7 years staying consistent?

Sir_Humphrey

As I have said time and time again. Low paid public sector jobs (eg binmen) have almost all been privatised, so this is a meaningless statistic.

WTF?_2

The private sector funds the public sector so this can't continue. Definitely a day of reckoning coming......

Really2

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

As I have said time and time again. Low paid public sector jobs (eg binmen) have almost all been privatised, so this is a meaningless statistic.

I thought bin man was an "OK" paid job.

They have tens of thousands of admin posts it's a mith that the low paid jobs have been privatised. It's just the services that you pay for have been privatised leaving 100's of 1000's of pen pushers and paper shufflers.

beecher

Within education, catering, cleaning and janitorial work has been privatised taking out a lot of the lower paid jobs. I'm not sure how meaningful this report is - there does seem to be a band of management paid at around £30,000- £40,000 who seem to do nothing but attend meetings, but it is always difficult to evaluate how necessary any job is.

Cannon_Fodder

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1292
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=407
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=12


Cannot find a graph for the whole of 1997 to today, first link shows dip from 1992 high of 23%, to around 19%, then 2004 being back above 20%.

Second link, 2004 to 2008, shows around 100,000 jobs lost after 60,000 were gained, so yes there has been a drop.

Out of 5.764 million Public Sector employees, 100,000 is hardly decimating their numbers, though.

Third link states total Employed at 29.39, of which if around 5.764 million are Public sector, means 19.6% still close to the long-term position, not heavily dented, either by outsourcing or efficiency programmes...

Dylanwing

Not meaningful. as others havs said, a lot of low-paid jobs are contracted out, so technically they are private sector, but really work for the public sector. The big problem is that there are far too many Senior Managers earning vast pay packets, and pushing up the average, and a whole heap of very well paid non-jobs, as advertised in the Guardian. Trouble is, it won't be these jobs that are cut, it will be the unlucky ones who actually do provide a useful service!
I would add that the Government like these types of stories, it deflects blame and anger onto other workers, rather than at those actually responsible for this mess. Divide & rule?

Sir_Humphrey

!!!!!!? wrote: »

The private sector funds the public sector so this can't continue. Definitely a day of reckoning coming......

Without the job of my team, there would be a LOT less international trade going on. The number of industry bodies who are interested in attending our briefings are a good sign of our importance. I also doubt that my landlord, or my local chip shop owner would like it if I did not have a job. Money goes both ways.

Old_Slaphead

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Without the job of my team, there would be a LOT less international trade going on. The number of industry bodies who are interested in attending our briefings are a good sign of our importance.

Genuine question : does your team add any value to the transaction, or does it perpetuate a level of bureaucracy that arises at each end (ie import and export) of the deal?

baby_boomer

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

As I have said time and time again. Low paid public sector jobs (eg binmen) have almost all been privatised, so this is a meaningless statistic.

Does anyone remember the speed the binmen worked when Sir Humphrey employed them? It was like a permanent go slow.

Now they zoom through your street with purpose and are far more productive.

I suspect they are better paid AND cost the taxpayer less.

More generally

If public sector workers in general weren't entitled to ludicrously generous pensions, then central and local government would be able to make more rational decisions about whether to employ workers in the public or private sector.

The pensions issue is skewing the choice. It needs to be resolved.

If it was, then government wouldn't automatically reach for PFI as the solution.

Illogically [unless you accept that scewing the taxpayer for the maximum they can get is OK], the unions who are the biggest critics of PFI are also the biggest supporters of public sector pension rights

Sir_Humphrey

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Genuine question : does your team add any value to the transaction, or does it perpetuate a level of bureaucracy that arises at each end (ie import and export) of the deal?

On balance, it reduces costs to industry. Industry are in favour of regulation in our area on the basis of enlightened self-interest. We also attend international negotiations that make less easy for the French to take a lead on the issues at hand.