Are SA executive salaries too high?

SA business owners believe executives of large public enterprises earn too much money. This was revealed in a study by Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (See FTWOnline, August 14). About 68% of SA business owners believed public sector executives were too highly paid, and 76% of their international counterparts shared this view, the researchers said. But what about the private sector salaries themselves. How do they compare to those in the public sector? Not a known factor, according to trade recruitment specialists, Lee Botti & Associates and Ribton-Turner Recruitment – neither of which had ever been involved in public sector recruitment, and therefore had no comparative information. Turning to an unnamed expert on salaries, FTW was told that ranking public v private sector salaries “was not a valid comparison”. The private sector is very much performance-driven, according to our source, and bonuses are matched to that, and tend to be rather attractive (if you perform). Not so the public sector. You can’t have profit incentives or anything like that in the public sector, because it is not a profitlinked (performance) organisation. So those executives in the public services may be paid what appear to be big basic salaries to compensate. Their bonuses are based on a model, but how this is calculated our salary specialist didn’t know. But the end story is: Public sector – big salaries and comparatively moderate bonuses whether you perform or not; and private sector – modest salaries (in executive terms) and healthy bonuses, but only if you deserve them. What’s your opinion on the salary matter? Let the editor know at: joyo@ nowmedia.co.za