WKÖ Official Salaries Partially Climbed Significantly

For the approximately 5,800 chamber employees nationwide, the salary increase in 2026 will be significantly less, at 4.2 percent from the second half of the year.

For example, the compensation of the President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce was raised from 6,400 to 10,000 euros, an increase of more than 60 percent. According to ORF's "ZiB2" on Thursday, this is not an isolated case: In Burgenland and Styria, the functional compensations of the state presidents increased by 55 percent each from 2024 to 2025.

How Increases Are Justified

The state chamber presidents of Vienna and Lower Austria, who receive around 14,000 euros monthly, have already exhausted the legal framework. The increases in the largely double-digit percentage range are justified, according to ORF, by the fact that there has been no inflation adjustment for decades in some cases. Only the salary of the chamber head in Carinthia was not increased recently. The decision on the adjustment lies with the respective state chambers.

WKÖ President Harald Mahrer currently receives 15,000 euros in this role, and according to "Kronen Zeitung," he received an increase of around 2,600 euros in July this year. Additionally, as President of the National Bank, he receives 88,000 euros per year - the Court of Audit now wants to examine the dual compensation as reported. With the compensation as President of the Economic Association, Mahrer totals 28,500 euros gross, as he explains in an interview with the "Kurier" (Saturday edition). Regarding the functional compensation at the federal level, there will be no increase next year, the WKÖ informed the APA yesterday.

Salary Increases Led to Criticism

The salary increases, however, led to some fierce criticism, for example from the FPÖ, which called Mahrer the "biggest salary emperor of the WKO." "Mahrer is ripe for resignation. But not only that: In view of the catastrophic state of the domestic economy, it is also high time to finally end the compulsory membership in the Chamber of Commerce," demanded Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz in a statement. "Are they still in their right mind," asked the Green economic spokesperson Elisabeth Götze in a statement. "One would expect someone who demands frugality from everyone else to lead by example," she said.

Particularly in Tyrol, the opposition's state parties were upset by Thaler's increase. The FPÖ identified the problem in the ruling party ÖVP. "This step proves that the ÖVP has lost all sensitivity and decency," said state party chairman Markus Abwerzger. The Green club chairman Gebi Mair believed that this was "inappropriate in difficult times like these" and should be "reversed." For the NEOS, it was also "the absolutely wrong signal at the absolutely wrong time." The Fritz list saw the "credibility" of the WK squandered: While entrepreneurs "fight for survival, officials are lining their pockets," complained district spokesperson Robert Greil.

WKÖ President Commented

Mahrer is trying to limit the damage in an interview with "Die Presse": "We made mistakes. I made mistakes. I understand the criticism," said Mahrer. "The criticism also moves me emotionally because we have 5,800 employees who do a great job, many of them abroad. Also, thousands of great officials. I stand by them. You can work on me, but not on them."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.