Boss bonuses distort pay averages

The head of the Irish Bank Officials Association claims that bonuses to senior executives are distorting CSO statistics which indicate rises for financial workers.

Financial, insurance, and real estate professionals have seen average pay rise over 4% in the last three years, according to CSO data.

IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said this does not reflect the situation on the ground, and put the increase in average pay down to the senior executives receiving bonuses.

“I am shocked by these figures,” said Mr Broderick. “It doesn’t reflect the situation in the banking sector with our members. They have received no pay increases in the last four years and are looking at cuts and changes in their working conditions. I would suggest that, if you look behind the figures, it might be that bonuses paid to executives at senior level are being averaged out.”

The only sector that has outstripped wage inflation over the same period of time has been the information and communications sector, which includes the IT professionals that have been in demand due to a skills shortage.

Professionals in the financial, insurance, and real estate sector have seen average wages rise from €49,000 to more than €51,000.

Professionals in the information and communications sector saw average wages rise to become the highest average earners measured by the Central Statistics Office, rising from €48,000 to €52,000 in the last three years.

Total earnings across all sectors showed a fall of €4bn, or more than 6%.

The biggest decline was in the construction industry, with the average take-home pay of builders down by 9% in the last three years.

The cost of employing people has also risen, with the CSO reporting increases as high as 20% in one year in the cost of employment.

The sector with the highest rise in labour costs, such as employers’ PRSI and other social costs, was transport and storage, which saw a 23% rise from €6,445 in 2011 to nearly €8,000 last year.

Other sectors which saw large rises in the cost of employees included education (20.5%), public administration and defence (19.9%), and administrative and support services (19.4%).

The only sector to see a fall in the costs was accommodation and food services, down 5.4%.