Plenković’s Imbalance: Salaries in Healthcare Grew Almost Six Times More Than in Agriculture in One Year

The previous government of Andrej Plenković created an unprecedented mess in the labor market due to the HDZ’s pre-election campaign. Salary increases in public administration, healthcare, and education, with payments conveniently timed a few days before the elections, were key to HDZ’s victory, but the consequences of the new imbalance among sectors will only begin to be felt.

Statistics revealed that the average salary in healthcare increased by 17 percent in March (a total of 38.5 percent over the year!), in public administration and defense by 13.6 percent (annual 33.4 percent), and in education by 13.5 percent (annual 27.7 percent). This dramatic growth also pushed the overall average salary increase to 6.3 percent (annual 17.3 percent), while inflation during this time was 3.1 percent.

Healthcare workers, who had a salary 21 percent above the average a year ago, are now 33.6 percent above it, the state administration jumped from 116.3 percent to 126.8 percent of the average, and educators from 103.6 percent to 112.5 percent. At the same time, the largest employers – the manufacturing industry and trade – which already had salaries below average, further declined. Industrial workers slipped from 92.1 percent of the average to 88.6 percent, and traders from 92 percent of the average to 87.8 percent.

It is worth noting that Plenković took over the government in October 2016, when education had salaries 8.1 percent above the average, public administration 15.2 percent, and healthcare 17.8 percent above the average.

In the past year, salaries in agriculture grew the least – only 6.9 percent. Meanwhile, doctors’ salaries increased almost six times more!

Once upon a time, it was quietly grumbled: ‘Zagreb works, Belgrade builds’. In independent Croatia, this turned into: ‘Dalmatia works, Zagreb builds’. Today, however, entrepreneurs have begun to grumble: ‘The private sector works, the public sector raises its salaries.

This trend is not new; the operation of buying votes through salary increases in the public sector began back in 2022. It is still uncertain in which direction this new dissatisfaction will turn, especially in the context of a chronic labor shortage, which, despite a hundred thousand unemployed, must be addressed with increasing imports of workers.

However, the problems of salary imbalance will not first be faced by HDZ ministers, but by the newly appointed ministers from the Homeland Movement, who have – whether by coincidence or not – been assigned the sectors of economy and agriculture. So far, these two have already been ‘warned’ – Minister of Economy Ante Šušnjar due to private business, and Minister of Agriculture Josip Dabro due to a questionable diploma.

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