SHARE
COPY LINK
SAAB CASH CRISIS

WAGES

Saab staff face new paycheck delay

Saab employees’ wages may be delayed, marking the third consecutive month that at least part of the company's 3,700 employees has seen their salary payments delayed.

Saab staff face new paycheck delay

“It’s a damn shame,” commented Håkan Skött, chairman of the company’s union group Metallklubben, to news agency TT.

At the same time, the Swedish Enforcement Agency (Kronofogden) is threatening to empty the company’s checking account altogether.

“It’s possible that wages will be delayed. A normal wage execution hasn’t been possible, from what I’ve heard,” said Skött.

Saab’s explanation for possibly delaying wages in August is that part of the money the company has received from investors may not arrive in time for payouts.

“We’re all hoping that it will, and we want to believe that this will happen. But there’s no guarantee. There is a risk. We’re waiting for money that we’ve been promised, but that hasn’t been paid. We’re also looking for alternative funding, which we need in order to start up production again,” said Saab spokesperson Gunilla Gustavs to TT.

Saab Automobile said in a statement it was “taking all necessary actions to collect these funds in time and continues discussions with various parties to obtain

additional short-term funding”.

The company stressed however that there was “no assurance that the necessary funding will be obtained.”

The announcement also comes days after Saab’s parent company was forced to justify considerable pay hikes to its board members including a 633 percent pay raise to chairman Hans Hugenholtz.

Cecilia Fahlberg, trade union Unionen’s chairwoman, was highly critical of Saab’s announcement.

“If salaries are delayed for the third time this summer, it’s obviously completely unacceptable. We know there’s a strong sense of loyalty among employees, but the question is if the boundary for this loyalty hasn’t been reached,” said Fahlberg.

If the union’s 1,000 members don’t receive their wages on Friday, Unionen will once again begin work to collect wages on members’ behalf.

Saab owner Swedish Automobile plummeted on Amsterdam’s stock market following this news. By 2pm on Tuesday afternoon, the stock had dropped by 20.5 percent, to 5.2 kronor ($0.80).

Meanwhile, the company is continuing discussions with several parties, in a bid to solve short-term funding, and thereby manage to pay employees’ salaries.

But the Enforcement Agency’s search for Saab’s money is also ongoing. Their goal is to find and collect the 163 million kronor that various creditors have asked for.

If they find the account containing employees’ wages, which according to Saab’s intentions ought to contain roughly 100 million kronor within the next couple of days, the money will be levied.

“Saab’s suppliers also have employees waiting for salaries,” explained Hans Ryberg, manager of Uddevalla’s enforcement division, to TT.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

WAGES

Swiss salaries: How much do people earn in Switzerland?

Workers in Switzerland are among the best paid in the world, but the cost of living here is one of the highest as well. The Local looks at how much people in various professions earn in this wealthy but expensive country.

Swiss salaries: How much do people earn in Switzerland?
Workers in Zurich, here in the city's business district, are among the highest earners in Switzerland. Photo by AFP

Swiss wages published by the Federal Statistical Office (OFS) shed light on some interesting facts, including on how much foreign workers earn compared to their Swiss counterparts.

According to FSO’s Swiss Earnings Structure Survey of 2018, the last year for which official statistics are available, the median monthly wage in Switzerland is 6,538 francs.

The salaries have not dramatically changed since then.

The study shows that the lowest-paid 10 percent of employees earned less than 4,302 francs per month, while the highest-paid 10 percent earned nearly 11,700 a month.

Gender-based wage disparities

Not surprisingly, the survey shows wage disparities between men and women across all professions, levels of education, age groups, and private and public sectors.

On average, women earn 11.5 percent less than men working in the same positions, though the gap has steadily decreased in the past decade.

Another disparity: Swiss versus foreign workers

FSO figures also show the divergence in wages between the Swiss and foreigners with different work permits.

As the chart below indicates, while a Swiss man earns 7,500 francs a month, a Swiss woman is paid just over 6,000 for the same job.

EXPLAINED: How much do foreign workers in Switzerland earn?

Now let’s look at the foreign workforce.

A man with a short-term L permit earns about 5,000 francs, while a woman holding the same permit will make a little over 4,000.

The pay is a bit higher for B permit holders: 5,700 francs for men and 5,000 for women.

Cross-border men workers with the G permit earn roughly the same as C permit holders — about 6,200 a month. The women in those groups, however, don’t have the same salaries: about 5,800 for border workers and 5,000 for permanent residents.

This could be because the former category has the skills specifically needed by Switzerland’s labour market.

So what are the average Swiss salaries for various professions?

First, keep in mind that wages vary from one canton to another. Generally speaking, people earn more in Geneva and Zurich than in Ticino, but the cost of living in these regions is correspondingly higher or lower.

READ MORE: Geneva voters approve ‘world’s highest’ minimum wage

Typically, professionals like doctors, lawyers, or engineers, as well as people working in information technology, the pharmaceutical industry, and bank and insurance sectors have the highest salaries.

On the other hand, unskilled workers are ones who are lowest paid, often referred to as ‘working poor’. 

Lohncomputer, a platform for European citizens who want to or already work in Switzerland, lists median monthly wage estimates culled from various salary surveys.

Here are just a few examples:

  • Lawyer: 9,300 francs
  • Accountant: 8,125 francs
  • Teacher: 7,292 francs
  • Bank employee: 6,750
  • Architect: 6,250 francs
  • Nurse : 5,667 francs
  • Carpenter: 5,150 francs
  • Hairdresser: 4,375 francs

Other salary estimates can be found here.

If you’d like to find the expected average wage in your industry, check this link.

How does Swiss income compare with wages in other European countries?

With a median salary exceeding 96,000 francs annually, Switzerland’s workers have highest wages in Europe, according to a survey by an international consultancy firm Willis Towers Watson. 

The second-highest is Denmark, with just over 63,000, followed by Norway (almost 60,000).

Out of 18 countries surveyed, Portuguese and Greek workers fared the worst, with average yearly salaries of 22,630 and 25,132, respectively.

SHOW COMMENTS