Pilots and bank staff get biggest wage rises

Who has more money to spend on Christmas presents this year? Pilots and bank staff, that's who, according to figures for wage growth in the Czech Republic in the third quarter of this year. By Ian Willoughby.

Who has more money to spend on Christmas presents this year? Pilots and bank staff, that's who, according to figures for wage growth in the Czech Republic in the third quarter of this year.

Gross wage increases for pilots and bank staff were twice the average in the period between July and September. Pilots had been pushing hard for higher salaries - saying that their pay should be more in line with levels in the European Union - their pay went up by almost twenty percent. Banks meanwhile have reportedly upped salaries in a bid to keep skilled staff - they got almost 18 percent more.

The wage growth figures show that the gap between salaries in individual sectors is widening, compared to the same period last year. So while some have received large rises, those working in the textile and fur industry and some services, where wages have always been the lowest, recorded under-average growth as well.

In general, however, salaries grew more in the public sector than the private sector - wages were up 11 percent in the non-commercial sector and 8.6 in the business sphere. It should be pointed out however that civil servants pay is significantly lower on average - the rise certainly doesn't mean that they are passing out those working for private companies in the wages stakes.

The average monthly wage growth across the board was nine percent, and the average Czech worker now receives 14.400 Czech crowns, or around 390 US dollars. Consumer prices in the same period increased by 5.4 percent, so real wage grew by 3.3 percent.

The latest figures also reveal that how much you get paid depends on whereabouts in the Czech Republic you live. As always, pay is highest in the Prague region. In Prague, the average salary is just over 18.000 crowns, or just under 500 US dollars a month. And the area with the lowest average monthly salary? It's the Olomouc region in North Moravia, where average monthly pay is less than twelve and a half thousand crowns - just over 330 US dollars.