Staff’s trust in ECB leaders suffers amid pay dispute

Staff at the European Central Bank said trust in President Christine Lagarde and the rest of the Executive Board had been damaged amid a standoff over pay and the institution’s struggles to tame inflation, a recent survey showed.

About 37% said confidence towards leadership had suffered “a lot,” while almost 32% said it’s been “somewhat” harmed, according to a document summarising the results of the poll, seen by Bloomberg News.

The poll of 1,696 employees, carried out in October by staff union IPSO, also revealed that the current level of trust in the six-member Executive Board was low or non-existent for about twofifths. About half said it was either high or moderate.

“This is a serious concern for our institution, as no one can correctly lead an organisation without the trust of its workforce,” IPSO said Tuesday in an email to staff. “Without trust, the information does not freely flow from the bottom to the top. We run the risk of missing the next crisis, and colleagues won’t blow the whistle when necessary.”

The results of the survey come after staff representatives said they’re unhappy about a 4% salary increase that took effect this year. The amount is roughly half of last year’s inflation in Germany, where the ECB is headquartered, and is based on wage developments at similar institutions.

A spokesperson for the ECB declined to comment directly on the IPSO document, but pointed to a separate survey to which more than 2,900 employees responded. That poll showed 83% were “proud to work for the ECB and 72% would recommend it as a great place to work.”

Other surveys also showed a large majority was satisfied with the ECB’s decision on health and safety during the pandemic, the spokesperson said.

The results of the IPSO poll were earlier reported by Reuters.