Abdo Al-Asmari

Alsharq

Anyone who reads the title of this piece will probably criticize the writer and not try to understand the point he is trying to get across.



Not a day passes by without hearing the pleas of government employees demanding a salary increase. The latest demands have been made by male and female teachers.



It seems that we will continue to read and hear about such demands for quite some time. I am certain if monthly salaries were increased, the employees who benefited from such an increase will take additional bank loans and raise the level of their living standards. They will continue to demand more salary increases as the majority of our citizens do not know how to manage their money.



Some compare the salaries of our government employees with the salaries of other countries’ government employees without taking into consideration the huge difference in the number of employees. If those who demand salary increases had studied the demographic changes, fuel and transportation expenses, rent, etc., in other countries, they would realize we are way better than them. We should be grateful for our economic conditions and social stability and, above all, our monthly salaries.



The other point I would like to raise about this topic focuses on employee performance and whether it is commensurate with salary increases. If we analyze the performance of each employee and his productivity and compare them with his salary, we will find that many employees only deserve half of their current salaries; however, they are paid full and for this they should be thankful.



Wages and salaries take up half of the state budget, a matter that could have dangerous economic implications for the country in the future. Keeping this in mind, we should create a balance between jobs in the private and public sectors.