Income of chemical and pharmaceutical executives up 4.4%

Compared to the previous year, the total income of non-tariff and senior executives in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry in 2018 increased by 4.4 percent. This is the result of the current income survey of the Association of Hired Academics (VAA).The increase was 0.8 percentage points stronger than in the previous year. The reason for this is the growth in variable remuneration, which grew by 3.2 percent in 2017 to 5.9 percent last year. "For the academics and executives of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the increase in salary last year has been modest," said the first VAA chairman Rainer Nachtrab. In one of the key industries of the industry in Germany, the salaries of non-tariff and executive employees in most companies are developing reasonably."This time around, variable compensation has made up ground, in part because of the better earnings situation in companies," explains Nachtrab. The fixed income has increased by 2.7 percent, which is comparable to other industries. "Specialists and executives in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are worth their salary", emphasizes the VAA chairman. "Responsibility and innovative spirit distinguish the researchers, experts and managers of our industry."The majority of VAA members in the companies fall within the scope of the Academic Collective Agreement, emphasizes the Chairman of the VAA Commission income Dr. med. Hans-Dieter Gerriets. "Therefore, we also use this area as a guideline for more detailed analyzes." In this group, the salary components consist of 81 percent fixed salary and 15 percent variable salary. Gerriets adds: "Another four percent consist of other income components such as inventor compensation, stock option proceeds, special payments or benefits in cash from employee shares and company cars."A total of more than 4,700 VAA members from numerous companies in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry participated in the 2018 income survey. Thus, the salary study of the VAA gives a unique overview of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Germany. A scientifically competent and statistically robust foundation receives the investigation by the joint implementation with the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) and the RWTH Aachen.