The FINANCIAL — The majority of employees interviewed by The FINANCIAL in Tbilisi are of the opinion that their salaries are not equivalent to the worth of the work they do.
The FINANCIAL — The majority of employees interviewed by The FINANCIAL in Tbilisi are of the opinion that their salaries are not equivalent to the worth of the work they do. The newspaper enquired of over 300 employees out of which 264 stated that they are not satisfied with their salaries. 60% of respondents stated that salary satisfaction is more important to them than job satisfaction.
“My official working hours last from 10 am to 6 pm. I can hardly remember a day though when I have left the office before 8 pm. If I were abroad I would be compensated for the extra hours, in Georgia however I cannot even mention the subject of my salary, even if the company is late in paying me. If you do not like something, just quit – that is the established mentality here. I am de-motivated, but looking at the high rate of unemployment in the country means I simply can’t quit,” said Natalia, 27, employee of one of the leading Georgian companies.
“A salary calculator is a well-approved method of estimating the value of one’s work in Europe, the USA and even other post Soviet countries. By using the tool anyone can easily find out the information they need, in most cases via a special formula found on many websites, about what they’re worth on the labour market according to their qualifications, knowledge and experience. In Georgia, there is no salary/qualifications handbook that includes a separate list of professions, their required qualifications and corresponding salaries,” Kakha Sakandelidze, Georgian Minister of Employment, told The FINANCIAL.
According to the Georgian National Statistics Center, the rate of unemployment in Georgia varies from 15-16%.
The highest recorded average wage is in the financial sector – GEL 1,365.3; transport and communication – GEL 1, 148 and in the electricity, gas and water production sector – GEL 935.1.
The lowest monthly wage is in fish-breeding, HoReCa, science and agriculture, hunting and forest manufacturing. The average monthly salary in the fish-breeding sector is GEL 271.1; in HoReCa – GEL 347.8; in science – GEL 376.3 and in agriculture, hunting and forest manufacturing – GEL 400.3.
The minimum wage in Georgia equals GEL 150, or less than USD 100.
“The majority of Georgian companies determine salary volume in line with the average on the market. Many organizations have a payroll system which determines the wage rate of certain positions in respect to certain criteria, their weight and value,” said Lili Bibilashvili, PhD, President at HR Professional Guild.
Large companies don’t consider their financial growth at all when determining their salary budgets. That is why the average salary at leading oil companies almost equals the average salary paid at small companies.
“While determining salary volume many factors should be taken into account: staff management (number of employees and their diversity), the level and extent of responsibility, quality of independence of work, required knowledge, experience, variety of contacts and complexity, job complexity and the cost of error,” Bibilashvili explained.
“As for the administration, in most cases the highest salary is assigned in accordance with the level of responsibility, but in some cases, a higher score may be given to certain factors such as the price of error,” she added.
“The adequacy of one’s remuneration and work depends on the company’s scale, culture and level of development. If we run an internal comparator of marketing managers at small-sized, less popular LTDs and also at big companies, we may find a significant difference between the wages of those holding the same position. We can also compare the presence of our big companies in foreign markets and in this case we can see that their salary amounts in Georgia are lower than they are abroad,” said Eka Machavariani, HR Manager at Maxhome Trade.
The Georgian labour code does not also include increasing salary in accordance with length of service. “This is up to the employer and their individual desire to create an internal motivation system within the company and increase salary in accordance with amount of work accomplished,” said Machavariani.
Bibilashvili mentioned the two main categories according to which potential employees divide Georgia-based companies: this is native and international organizations. She said that the desire to be hired at international organizations is significantly higher than at local ones.
“A sense of security and justice is the main motivator for Georgians wanting to be employed at international companies. This trend is as a result of the fact that many global companies take care of the development of each of their staff members, at every position,” Bibilashvili said.
Discussion about this post