Gov't pay 50% higher than in private sector

Full-time employees of government ministries earned an average of NIS 18,029 monthly in 2022, according to the report by the Commissioner of Wages in the Ministry of Finance released today. The average rose by 3.8% over the course of the year.

The average salary of the government’s 36,000 workers is almost 50% higher than the general average in the economy, which was NIS 12,120 monthly in 2022. The gap between the public and private sector widened over the year, as salaries in the private sector rose by just 2.8%. This was despite the fact that public sector pay was frozen in 2022, and only crept upwards because of linkage to the Consumer Price Index. In 2023, a framework agreement was signed with the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) providing for a rise in public sector pay, which means that the gap versus the private sector can be expected to be wider in future reports.

There are considerable pay gaps within the public service as well, including between people in similar jobs, because of long-service supplements and other benefits. At the highest level are those graded as equivalent to judges, which covers dozens of senior officials, such as the governor of the Bank of Israel. The average monthly salary of those in the lowest 10% of this grade is NIS 44,726, while for the highest 10% it is NIS 77,258.

The second grade is directors general of government ministries, who are employed on personal contracts. Their average pay ranges from NIS 40,833 for the lowest 10% to NIS 53,512 for the highest 10%. Employees in the bureaus of ministers and directors general earn between NIS 13,023 and NIS 34,187 monthly.

Recruitment difficulties

For years, the talk in the public sector has been of the difficulty in recruiting people in high-demand professions, such as engineers and technological staff, in the face of the competition from the private sector. The pay figures in the report illustrate the difficulty in attracting young employees. Beginner engineers in government service earn just NIS 8,763 monthly. At the top end, the pay of a veteran senior engineer reaches NIS 28,059.

The lowest paid government employees are court stenographers. The lowest 10% are paid NIS 6,821 monthly on average, while the highest 10% average NIS 13,913.

The Ministry of Finance Wages Division published a separate report on teachers’ salaries. In 2022, there were about 139,000 teachers and other education workers in Israel. They earned an average of NIS 12,629 monthly (or NIS 14,298 for those in full-time posts), costing the state a total of NIS 28 billion.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 22, 2024.

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