KV Negotiations: Job Satisfaction in Retail at an All-Time Low

Next Monday, the collective bargaining negotiations for the approximately 450,000 employees in the trade sector will enter the third round. According to the labor climate index of the AK OÖ, employees in this sector are disproportionately unhappy with their pay. Only every second retail employee is "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with their income, whereas in other sectors, this is the case for six out of ten employees.

Satisfaction in Retail on the Decline

In general, it shows: After the Corona years with a low in the labor climate index across all sectors - as well as in the trade sector - there was a slight upward trend in 2023 and 2024, but recently the paths have diverged. While satisfaction across sectors stabilized, it noticeably declined in retail.

One Third in Grocery Retail in Low-Wage Sector

Among retail employees, there is a high job satisfaction that meets low income satisfaction, says Reinhard Raml from the IFES Institute, which conducts the labor climate index survey. Satisfaction with social status is also low. More than a quarter of respondents want to change the company or profession.

Nadja Bergmann from L&R Social Research calculated at a media event by "Discourse. The Science Network" on Thursday: 32 percent of salespeople in the grocery retail sector are classified in the low-wage sector, across all employees it is 14 percent.

The gross annual salary for women employed full-time year-round in the grocery retail sector was 34,178 euros in 2023, for men it was 38,781 euros. In comparison: For all women employed full-time year-round across all sectors, the corresponding amount is 47,154 euros and for men 53,694 euros, Bergmann refers to figures from Statistics Austria. The grocery retail sector is the largest segment in retail with around 155,000 employees. 67 percent of them are women.

Negotiations Progressing Slowly

Last Thursday in the second round of collective bargaining for the trade sector, employers and employees were still far apart. The former offered a salary increase of 2.25 percent, the latter put 2.9 percent on the table. The annual inflation underlying the negotiations is 3 percent.

(APA/Red)

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