State employee criticizes the state for high wages
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The new study by economist Christoph Schaltegger shows that those with the same qualifications earn more with the federal government than with private companies.
Photo: Cyril Zingaro (Keystone)
On average, the federal government pays more than private companies
Christoph Schaltegger, Director of the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy at the University of Lucerne, criticizes the state for high wages. In a new study, he shows that those with the same qualifications earn an average of 12 percent more with the federal government than with private companies. This distorts fair competition at the expense of the private sector. He should know: Before his time as a professor at the state university, he worked as an advisor to Federal Councilor Hans-Rudolf Merz in the Federal Department of Finance. His co-author Marco Portman worked at the Federal Tax Administration, and the third study author Frederik Blümel is also a government employee as a student assistant at the University of Lucerne. It is not known whether the three are voluntarily cutting wages.