According to the National Survey about Work issued by the Central Bank, when it comes to salaries in the Dominican Republic, there are notable differences between the public and private sectors. The bad or good news, depending on who you work for, is that government workers make by far more than private sector workers.
In the last quarter of 2017, the average salary for a government employee was RD$160.9 per hour, whereas it was less than half of that, at RD$79.4 in the private sector.
According to the figures, the problem is that over the last three years the hourly salary has risen rapidly in public sector, outpacing wage growth in the private sector.
The wages in the public sector on average grew by 27.2% and 22.3% in the private sector. Interestingly, the survey also reveals that it is not only the public sector workers who earn more than the private sector. The survey tells that those who are self employed do as well, with an average of RD$90 per hour.
According to the president of the National Confederation of Unions, (CNUS), Rafael “Pepe” Abreu, the fact that people know that the pay in the public sector is better is not good for the economy as the private sector generates more wealth and development over the long term. Abreu lamented that new jobs are being concentrated in areas that are not productive for the economy.
He said that last February 2018, President Medina announced that 120,000 new jobs were being created each year. But he remarked that when the data is analyzed, 60% of the new jobs were opened in public administration, 30% in the informal sector and only 10% were generated in the private sector.
In the report on the first quarter of this year, issued by the Central Bank, there has been an increase in the payroll of Central Government and the municipalities with the highest number of new posts created in the Treasury, the Tax Agency (DGII) and Customs Agency (DGA), as well as the Judicial Branch with the creation of new courts. In addition the Ministry of Interior and Police appointed new agents for the National Police. There were also new posts created in Idecoop, the Dominican Municipal League and INVI.
The data shows that by the end of 2017, the working population stood at 4,347,992 workers that was an increase of 3% over the previous year. Of this figure, the highest number were employed in the private sector at 1,857,949, followed by the informal sector at 1,728,682 and then the State with 620,341 and self employed with 141,019.
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Diario Libre
22 May 2018
