Switzerland, paradise lost for multinationals. Italy, Eldorado of the captains of the Public Administration. If beyond the Alps the great managers risk having their salaries cut, in the Peninsula the number one in the public continue to receive record figures, when compared to those of their foreign colleagues.
Let's go in order. The doubt that Bern could lose the Olympus status of large companies begins to spread after the proposal to put a maximum ceiling on the salaries of top managers. A proposal that has been formalised, put on paper and – above all – which will be submitted to the vote of Swiss citizens in the referendum of 24 November.
The initiative, promoted by the Confederation's Socialist Youth, is called "1:12", where 1 is the minimum salary of the Confederation and 12, in relation, should be the maximum. Stated differently, a top corporate boss could not earn as much in a month as the lowest-paid employee earns in a year.
In Switzerland, the ceiling is currently largely exceeded, at least in some excellent cases. In 2012, Novartis pharmaceutical lawsuit top manager Joseph Jimenez grossed 266 times more than the least skilled employee. Paul Bulcke, of Nestlé, scored a more modest 215 times.
In case of victory in the referendum, the salary cap rule would be inserted into the Swiss constitution. In Switzerland, however, some point out that top managers are also major taxpayers to the state. And that if the 1:12 ratio is approved, there is a big risk of absconding.
This is probably much ado about nothing. According to the latest survey by SRG SSR, the Swiss broadcasting company, "consensus for the proposal has plummeted practically everywhere".
If at the beginning of October for and against were equal, now the yes collects only 36% of favorable opinions, while the no registers a surge to 54%.
“It is a predictable trend for popular initiatives,” explains political scientist Claude Longchamp. According to Longchamp, in three weeks the text will be rejected by a ratio of two to one. “That's by far the most likely scenario,” he says.
The numbers actually change as the languages change. In Italian-speaking Switzerland, 54% of those interviewed say they want to vote yes, while only 35% say they are against. In French-speaking Switzerland, the situation is even, while in German-speaking Switzerland no prevails, with 58%.
And if the Swiss Confederation puts the spotlight on its private top managers, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development points the finger at the public Italian top managers.
Senior managers of the Italian public administration earn three times the OECD average. This was revealed by the Organization itself, based on data from 2011, underlining that the average salary is 650 dollars, more than 250 more than the runners-up, the New Zealanders with 397 dollars. The OECD average stops at 232 dollars.
