Pay cut at the United Nations in Geneva...is this a good thing ? Why ? How ?
Alert, alert, alert !!!! The international civil servants will face a pay cut starting in 2018 in Geneva. What ? working for the UN is not such a good deal anymore ? Here you will find information on the reasons behind and what are the implications....
This time around, the survey concluded that the post adjustment allowance is Geneva was way too high, and consequently should be reduced. Estimates show that the cut will result in a 5% reduction to UN employees' salaries in Geneva.
The association of UN staff has been taking action to question the results (on the ground that the results did not warrant a too high allowance in Geneva) of the ICSC survey and tries to delay the implementation.
Now my thoughts:
Particularity of UN workers' salaries
The United Nations are obviously an international organization that employs and pays people all over the world. For that reason, the salaries scales are public and managed by a central governing committee called the Internation Civil Servant Committee (ICSC). That committee is in charge of making sure the people working for the UN get a pay that reflects their level of education and experience, but also allows them to live in cities where the cost of living can vary dramatically. To manage that, they have created an additional allowance that compensates for that cost of living: for example, that allowance is higher for cities like Geneva or New York.The context of the pay cut
The ICSC conducts studies on a regular basis to make sure the post adjustment allowance is still aligned with the cost of living: one way they do it is by polling the UN employees themselves.This time around, the survey concluded that the post adjustment allowance is Geneva was way too high, and consequently should be reduced. Estimates show that the cut will result in a 5% reduction to UN employees' salaries in Geneva.
Implementation of the cut & my thoughts
Senior Management of these UN agencies have taken different stands: the ILO refuses to implement it for example, while in others like WHO, newly appointed DG has decided to proceed with the cut.The association of UN staff has been taking action to question the results (on the ground that the results did not warrant a too high allowance in Geneva) of the ICSC survey and tries to delay the implementation.
Now my thoughts:
- International civil servants have that reputation of being overpaid, both from the member states as well as from the external world point of view. With economic crises and increasing challenges in raising funds to finance international organizations, the UN has to send clear signs that it is trying to squeeze costs as much as possible.
- International organizations are not commercial; because of that, there isn't a culture of cutting costs to the absolute necessary. Maybe that could be a way to save on costs. Cutting on salaries is a risky call.
- Introducing some kind of bonus to the salary would be in my opinion, the most effective thing to do: maybe have lower salaries but provide raises based on merit and accomplishments.
- Increasing efficiency at all levels to reduce the need for external human resources (consultancies)
What do you guys think ? Are the UN workers already paid too much or is that pay cut scandalous ?
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