In Costa Rica civil servants earn on average 150% more than workers in the private sector, which contributes decisively to the growth of inequality and lowers the overall competitiveness of human resources.
Trade unionists who promote it, the officials who estimate it, the rulers who decree it, are not part of the legion of unemployed who surely would work for less than the official minimum wage.
EDITORIAL
The unemployed have no voice, in principle because they do not pay a sindical fee, and if they did have one, they would not raise it, because it feels devoid of the dignity necessary to do so, because they are used to adopting a very humble position in job interviews. Nothing further impoverishes the human spirit that lack of gainful income of one form or another.
Performance bonuses and other variable compensation schemes weigh increasingly on the total compensation of senior managers.
In order to motivate and retain executives companies are tending more and more to compensate their executives with salary schemes where the variable proportion and that dependent on performance is increasing.
Paying with company stock, profit sharing from stocks or performance bonuses are some of the payment methods being used by companies for senior managers, as detailed in a report by consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
When vacancies arise companies fill them paying the new employee less than before, and give them even more demanding requirements.
A Manpower study outlined in an article in Prensalibre.com notes that in Guatemala "requirements are increased when new staff are hired, however the wages offered are not in line with the international market.
For example, one company had a manager with a profile matching a salary of up to $3,138, this person resigned and his place was taken by a underling who had a salary of $1,255 and who, after the change in position, was offered $1,632. This person got a better opportunity and resigned, shortly after which the company attempted to hire a new manager with the requirements of the first but with the salary of the second.
In Guatemala, telephony, retail sales, financial activities and services offer the best remuneration at managerial levels.
The survey Business System Salary Information by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), reveals that it is in the area of services where executives receive more economic benefits, equivalent to $5,350 a month on average.
Prensalibre.cvom reports that "Brenda Guzman, Organizational Development Consultant at PWC, said local managers in the industrial sector on average receive per month Q36,400 ($4,644) as a concept of economic benefits, including salary bonuses .
In terms of salary, knowing when to say no to the boss has its advantages.
In her article for CNNexpansión, journalist Ivonne Vargas analyses the results of an investigation conducted by the United States Management Academy.
"The study 'Do Nice Guys and Girls Always Finish Last?' conducted on 20,000 professionals in the U.S. and Canada, found that rude men earn 18% more than workers who always want to be seen as 'good' or nice.
According to a Price-Waterhouse Coopers survey for the second half of 2011, yearly executive salaries will grow by 8.7%.
According to the survey, Salary Information Enterprise System (SEIS), conducted among a group of 102 companies, 54 national and 48 multinational operating in the country, wage increases will be 8.9% for domestic companies and 8.3% for multinationals.
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, from January to October 2010 the average annual compensation increased 8.1%.
Of the 501 companies surveyed, 65% granted salary increases to their executives.
The largest increases were in small businesses (10.1% average), followed by large and medium with 7.6%.
Guillermo Muñoz, from PricewaterhouseCoopers, told Elperiodico.com.gt, "the survey was a good indicator that executive salaries were not affected by the economic crisis."
Bonuses to personnel must be balanced with the company’s short and long term perspectives.
Jorge Londoño, president of Grupo Bancolombia, explained how they applied the Shareholder’s Value Added System (SVA) in this bank, in such a way to prevent short term problems or distortions when applied.
Londoño remarks that “in our philosophy, the size of bonuses does not matter.
Almost all Guatemalan companies plan to increase the salaries of their managers next year, despite the international financial crisis.
96% of the companies intend to increase executive salaries, according to a survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers carried out among those companies which use their services.
According to the study results, provided to the AFP by the firm's analyst, Roberto Monge, the salary increases will be between 7% and 11% since the companies are trying to avoid the turnover of executives which increased in the second semester of 2008-
The gaps among salaries from Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica are disappearing.
When observing the current Pricewaterhouse Coopers study there are some conclusions that stand out. There are categories in the region. Salaries are highest in Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica, a little lower in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and much lower in Honduras, despite improvements.
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