This is according to data from the Central Statistical Office. According to CBS economist Frank Notten, the wage increases are no surprise. ‘We’ve seen it coming from afar, even the CPB predicted this figure.’
Collectively agreed wages in the Netherlands increased by 3.2% in 2022 compared to a year earlier. In the last quarter of the year, wages increased by 3.6 percent year on year, the largest increase in twenty years. But consumer prices have risen even more, reports Statistics Netherlands. Based on the first eleven months of 2022, about 10% on average. As a result, the Dutch, on balance, lost.
According to Notten, companies are holding their purse strings tight. ‘Companies average the highest profit in the third quarter since we started measuring. Dividend payments are also high, so in principle there is enough money.’ Notten notes that there are also companies hardest hit by the energy crisis.
Exaggerated
According to BNR’s in-house economist Han de Jong, the CBS figures paint a slightly more negative picture of what’s actually going on. ‘The wage increase in the collective bargaining agreement slightly underestimates what happens to many people’s incomes. Many large companies work with pay scales, which include increments. Anyone who is not yet at the top of that ladder will also get a raise on top of the salary increase.’
Another major talking point is how we arrive at CBS’s figures, De Jong explains. ‘CBS slightly exaggerated inflation in 2022, which has to do with how it passes on energy costs. The difference between what people actually earn and how much purchasing power they lose to inflation is therefore somewhat exaggerated by these figures.’
Care in care
Both healthcare and education are facing severe staff shortages and high work pressure. This is where the largest wage increases were measured. A recovery, thinks Notten. “In education, primary education salaries have been aligned with secondary education salaries.”
At the same time, wage increases in agriculture and energy supply are the lowest. Wages there have increased by more than 2%. According to Notten, this has to do with the fact that there are still many “old” collective labor agreements here. “We see in many sectors that the more recently the collective labor agreement has been agreed, the more wages have increased.”
Inflation data
Statistics Netherlands started publishing information on wage developments in collective bargaining agreements in 1973. Since then, the difference between inflation and this development has not been that great. Next week, the statistics office will release its latest inflation data for December.
According to Statistics Netherlands, around eight out of ten employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement and receive salary on that basis. The sectors where wages have increased the most are education, transport and warehousing, with 5.2 and 4.6 percent respectively. Collectively agreed wages increased the least in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, by 2%.