Adjusting current salaries for inflation, a report for the latest edition of Stern magazine showed half of the most common jobs in Germany were paying less than they did in 1990.
Among the hardest hit included people working in advertising, IT specialists and dental technicians, who have all seen more than a 30-percent drop in income. Doctors, still Germany´s best earners, made on average €6,400 a month in 2008, which is less than half of their income in 1990.
But salaries for realtors, administrators, bank employees and investment consultants all increased.
The report estimated that inflation has risen 47 percent since 1990, which means real wages have declined even if absolute salaries are higher than back in 1990.
Stern also noted another important development in German payroll practices: the move away from the special payments for Christmas and summer holidays often called the “13th month” of salary for employees. Instead, many German businesses are following the Anglo-American trend towards profit-sharing, which ties extra income to the firm’s success.
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