Old-Dutch When you are an organisation being funded by the taxpayer and you are always claiming that you are being underfunded, you should be looking at yourself and your practices to see if there is wastage. Any organisation that can write off hundreds of millions of pounds and at the same time say they are underfunded needs to have a shake up

That’s the problem in a nutshell, isn’t it. If a private business does that it goes under and a more professional outfit fills it’s shoes. If the public sector wastes hundreds of millions you get loads of idiots claiming their precious public services are underfunded!

    Cj not too far away with both posts there. Hard to argue with either.

    C_J agreed, class warriors conveniently forget the median public sector wage outstripped that of the private sector a few years back too, not to mention the much more generous pensions that we all pay for. My heart bleeds

        alistair the median public sector wage outstripped that of the private sector

        Once again, not the UK, but here the high-end directors and physicians make far less than they would in the private sector. But those on the lower end - social workers, LVNs, support staff - make much more than their non-profit or private counterparts. Take that for what it is, I guess.

          The final salary pension schemes in the public sector finished soon after the private sector wrapped theirs up.

            Along_the_Wire

            The career averaged schemes that replaced the old defined benefit schemes are still a lot better than the defined contribution schemes that a lot of private sector firms offer, never mind some of the absolutely pish auto-enrolment schemes that a lot of unfortunate people are made to contribute to.

              Along_the_Wire according to the ONS the average public sector earnings premium was 7% in 2019 and has declined from 10% at the start of the last decade.

              I’m glad that gap is shrinking rather than growing but to be honest I don’t have a massive problem with there being a smallish premium as long as it’s contained and I think it’s unavoidable to some extent. I’d be more concerned about trying to figure out how to reduce waste and expenditure on inefficient or non-essential shite so that more money could be spent on improving educational standards or boosting the take-home pay of people grafting 60hr weeks on minimum wage. Osbourne’s living wage reform in the 2015 budget was one of the truly great political reforms of recent times and very few people give him or his party any credit for that.

                  C_J This includes low skilled workers which the public sector has very little of as that will have been outsourced to private companies. And why does a private business need to make a menial job look attractive by offering an enhanced pension package?

                  Why anyone would deny anyone else the right to a decent salary and package that reflects their qualifications, the work they do and the risk they take, is beyond me. The public sector aren’t the fucking scroungers the right would like you to think.

                  • C_J replied to this.

                      Along_the_Wire This includes low skilled workers which the public sector has very little of as that will have been outsourced to private companies

                      Nope. They have controlled for this in order to compare like with like. There’s no getting away from the fact that public sector get paid more for the same work because there’s no bankruptcy risk. There’s nothing you can do about this as long as it doesn’t spiral out of control.

                          C_J I read the article before I posted earlier. We aren’t talking about the unskilled workforce here, are we? We’re talking about people with professional qualifications and specific skill sets.

                          Apologies for going all Hugo (without the racism):

                          The final paragraph in section 2:

                          “Our analysis shows that the modelled average public sector earnings premium based on gross pay including overtime pay and bonuses is higher for private sector employees in upper-middle and upper-skill groups in medium-sized firms, large firms and very large firms than for public sector employees. We also found that the modelled average public sector earnings premium is mainly concentrated among low-skilled workers, while high-skilled employees in the public sector tend to have lower earnings than employees in the private sector employed in the knowledge-intensive services and primary sectors. Further, public sector workers have positive earnings premiums over their counterparts working in the less knowledge-intensive sectors in the private sector.”

                            And if you want to compare lower-skilled workers, the public sector are paying £13.62 an hour on average and the private sector £11.24. The shame is on the private sector here. Fuck putting the boot into public sector earnings when we’re talking about £13.62 an hour.

                              Along_the_Wire except they didn’t. As the government fucked up, ignored advice and discriminated based on age. So we are all getting an extra 7 years final salary.

                                  benson So we are all getting an extra 7 years final salary.

                                  What do you mean by that, benson?

                                    Along_the_Wire And if you want to compare lower-skilled workers, the public sector are paying £13.62 an hour on average and the private sector £11.24. The shame is on the private sector here. Fuck putting the boot into public sector earnings when we’re talking about £13.62 an hour.

                                    So essentially, if you’re a thicko and/or lazy, public sector is a winnerrelative to your skillz.

                                    If you’re not, you can get better vfm for your skillz private sector.

                                    That’s not really a revelation is it?

                                        Mad_Cyril I’m not concerned with lower-skilled worker salary differentials, especially it’s the private sector that needs to up its game.