In times of lean and where purchasing power is threatened by galloping inflation, the State consolidates itself as a payer of more than interesting salaries, at least in many of the areas that depend on the national government. This occurs in a labor market that combines high employment – between formal and informal – but quite depressed pocket income.
It is one of the conclusions that can be drawn by observing salaries paid in 142 official branches, who have submitted their salary data to the Integrated Base for Public Employment (BIEP), the administration of which is in the hands of the Secretary of Management and Public Employment of the Head of Cabinet.
The latest data reported is from December 2022. Since these salaries include half the bonus, clarion he took the salary at November 2022 and updated them with the public sector wage index published by INDEC days ago.
The 15 highest paid
The survey shows that there are 15 addictions that pay theirs 74,000 gross salaries of employees -weighted average- over one million pesos.
Another 36 addictions are charged 127,000 salaries between 500,000 and 950,000 pesos a month.
Finally, there are nearly 300,000 employees earning wages of between $500,000 and $170,000 pesos.
Two references to get an idea of the level of salaries in the public sector, in state bodies and in companies.
– The parity of La Bancaria – a business that pays perhaps the best salaries in the private sector – was signed last month and has a salary scale ranging from $300,000 to $1.2 million.
– Average recorded private sector salary in April, according to RIPTE (Taxable Remuneration for Stable Workers) was $239,000.
At the tip of the pyramid is located stationery, ($1,617,387) whose salaries combine, on the one hand, a direct connection with those of the Judiciary and those which are paid in the currency of the country in which they reside, in the case of ambassadors and career staff.
The AFIP ($1,529,435) and its more than 20,000 employees also stand out for having salaries – weighted average – is another of those that stands out for its high salaries. The collection agency, such as ANSeS and PAMI, for example, has a particular employment contract. But in addition, they have one enviable advantage: a part of the tax collection is donated to the salary receiptwhich in many cases represents an extra salary per month.
In the ANS ($1,087,295) something similar happens. They have a company employment contract, i.e. they are not regulated by the equality of the Public Administration. In this case, extra disbursements are envisaged in at least two ways: the recovery of credits granted by the FGS and a bonus based on metrics such as the number of people served in a month.
A detailed example of the Anse. In November he reported 163 salaries of $591,000; others 159 of $624,863. Also 7,029 salaries of $834,521; 10 salaries of $1,014,876; 5,695 salaries of $849,571 and 21 salaries of 1,131,927.
Since November, the INDEC public wage index that between November 2022 and March 2023 increased by 29.9%.
Adjusted for that index, previous paragraph salaries rose to $768,500; $812,322; $1,084,878; $1,319,339; $1,104,442 and $1,471,505, respectively.
Weighted average salary results (which are closest to the salary of the most numerous categories) give $1,087,295
AFIP and ANSeS among the best salaries offers two possible readings.
Two areas in which Cristina commands
In both organizations, leadership was defined by the vice president Cristina Kirchner. There are two key areas: one because it collects and another because it pays a check every month to 17 million people, including retirees, retirees and beneficiaries of social plans.
Among the top 15 also stands out the public television, very understaffed and with a very low rating. Its 952 employees earn an average gross salary of $1,042,658.
THE armed and security forces They are in the bottom half of the table. The 65,000 workers of the Army charge a weighted average of $289,000). The 21,573 troops of the air Force they receive $336,787 and the 26,316 they have in Navy they charge $377,784.
The 38,564 troops of gendarmerie they’re a bit higher, at $544,000. Those of the Federal Police are 33,286 effective and receive 447,579 dollars.
Employees are required to report various data to this database, such as the number of employees, gender, method of employment, and wage bills. Most agencies report different salary categories and how many employees are in each category.
So in the BIEP you can see how much salaries are paid half a million workers including the entire National Public Administration, decentralized bodies and the Armed and Security Forces.
All dependencies are required to upload their information to this database. Some don’t. For example him Central Bank or Argentine Airlines. The latest known data on the BCRA wage scale is from September 2018. BCRA wages are governed by bank parity, which always accompanies recorded inflation. Adjusting a deputy director’s salary for inflation since then, he almost earns today 1.4 million pesos.
In Aerolíneas Argentinas, the wage bill in 2022 was 94,513 million pesos distributed among 11,682 employees. A simple average at the end of last year of $622,000 (12 salaries plus two half bonuses, at least). Airlines, like nearly all public sector companies, pay sky-high salaries – in line with the business, yes – despite racking up multimillion-dollar losses.
The paradigmatic case is that of trainswhich have a operating deficit of $3 million per day. Its 24,000 employees (Trenes Argentinos area only) receive weighted average gross salaries of $643,543.
Sources consulted by Cabinet HQ provided some definitions. The fact that AFIP, ANSeS and PAMI, for example, are so high up in the pyramid is due to the fact that when they organized themselves administratively, they did so with their own employment contract outside the collective agreement that regulates the public administration. “They were invited to join the general agreement, but they rejected it outright” underlined.
On the level of salaries in general paid by the State, they justified that the training of employees is, on average, high. “45% of National Public Administration workers have a university degree and there is another 13% with a tertiary degree, I don’t think that proportion is replicated in the private sector.”
The level of wages in the public sector, combined with job stability, may help to understand why in many employment surveys it appears as an ingrained aspiration to be able to find a job in the state.
A recent survey by the Swedish consultancy Universum found that, in the case of Argentina, working for the state was the most attractive option for students studying Health and Medicine and Humanities, Arts, Education and Law. For its part, Banco Nación and YPF are in the top ten most desirable jobs. The bank is third among Economics and Commerce students and fifth among Letters and Philosophy students. The oil company ranks second among Natural Science students and third among Engineering students.
For Universum specialists, the presence in the ranking of public employment sources is characteristic of Latin America and it has to do with the aspiration for a stable job and the future.
Source: Clarin
