How much do state employees earn compared to the average wage?
State employees received a 1.3% rise in their average monthly salary in 2021 compared with 2020, the Finance Ministry reported Tuesday.
According to the report, the current average monthly salary for 35,918 state employees was NIS 17,368. The overall average monthly salary, which declined 2.6% last October, was NIS 11,277.
Wages in the government and public sectors have been rising at a much faster rate than in the private sector over the past 20 years, the report said.
The rise in wages was partially attributed to government handling of the issue of working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic accelerated plans for the digitalization of all government services, the report said, adding that government workers were given more flexible employment models that included working from home.
This change significantly expanded the scope of the employment of state workers and caused their wages to rise substantially, despite a 0.8% decrease in the number of jobs in government ministries for the first time in more than a decade.
The report criticized the current payroll system used in the public sector and singled out government ministries.
The system is “heavily reliant” on seniority as a factor in determining an appropriate wage for workers, while skill is hardly a factor, the report said. The public sector focuses on seniority and educational level rather than specific skills or work productivity, it added.
Due to this, the current structure is unsuitable for various professions, such as analytics professionals, who earn more in the private sector, the report said.
“Data shown in this report provides a glimpse into the challenges posed by the current wage structure in hiring skilled and outstanding workers as state employees,” said Kobi Bar Natan, the Finance Ministry’s commissioner of wages and employment agreement. “We will continue to work to make the necessary changes within the existing frameworks to improve productivity and public service in Israel.”