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Fat cat pay packets raise German hackles

Nearly three-quarters of Germans do not think that CEOs deserve multi-million-euro salaries, even if they steer the company to record profits, a survey published on Friday found.

Published: 16 March 2012 15:24 CET

Fat cat pay packets raise German hackles

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, Photo: DPA

The Forsa survey, published in financial daily Handelsblatt, said that 71 percent of Germans considered massive salaries unjustified, while only 26 percent said they thought they were acceptable.

The survey was carried out this week after new figures were released on Wednesday showed that the CEOs of Germany’s top 30 companies earned an average of €6.1 million in 2011, up nine percent from the year before.

Leader of the pack was Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn, who earned a whopping €17.5 million for his efforts, the highest salary ever for a DAX company employee. Bonuses and profit incentives made up the vast majority of his money, after Germany’s biggest carmaker raked in record profits – his basic salary is only €1.9 million.

Women were more critical than men of CEOs’ high wages – only 78 percent found seven or eight-figure salaries unjustified, compared to 63 percent of men. Young people were less outraged. Only 63 percent of people in the 18 – 29 age bracket thought bonuses were too high.

“Young people have fewer reservations,” explained Forsa head Manfred Güllner. “They want to keep their options open and have high expectations of their own careers.”

According to Handelsblatt, executives’ wages rose at quadruple the rate of other employees last year. But the German top wages are dwarfed by their counterparts in the US, where CEOs earn an average of €12 million.

The Local/bk

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Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions.

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds.

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local.

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with.

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