The Sozialverband Deutschland (SoVD) has sharply criticized the gap in salary development between employees and top managers. “I am shocked by these figures” said Michaela Engelmeier, the president of the SoVD, to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Friday editions).
The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have left financial traces for millions of people. “It is understandable that many feel left behind when they hear about such developments. What the feeling of being left behind can lead to, we experience with each new election” said Engelmeier.
The development organization Oxfam had previously presented a calculation showing that the salaries of top managers in the most profitable companies in Germany have grown 30 times faster than the real wages of all employees in the past five years. According to the median, the chairmen of the boards of directors apparently earned around 4.4 million euros last year.
“People see million-dollar salaries and double-digit salary increases on one side and on the other side, a too low pension increase, an unworthy debate about the necessary increase of the minimum wage, uncontrolled rising social contributions and a current poverty report that clearly shows: The poor become poorer, the rich become richer” Engelmeier criticized. She appealed to the incoming federal government to take countermeasures. Otherwise, the division of society will take “dramatic forms” according to the SoVD chief.