Salary increase in the financial sector: 68,000 employees benefit from April!

Salary increase in the financial sector: 68,000 employees benefit from April!

In Austria, on April 1, 2025, the first new collective contracts that have been concluded in several industries begin. For the financial sector, a salary increase of 3.0 percent is planned, which will affect around 68,000 employees. In addition, the contribution to the pension fund is increased by 0.15 percent and children's allowances in the financial sector are increased by three percent.

The increase in apprenticeship income is particularly worth mentioning, as these increase by 3.15 percent. These agreements for the financial sector were already achieved on March 18, 2025 and are an important step to improve wages, especially with regard to inflation.

Details on the collective contracts

The negotiations were led between the GPA union and the employers of the credit industry around the collective agreements. The new regulations come into force today and have a term of 12 months, which is valid until March 31, 2026. Andreas Fink from the GPA said that the conclusion of the annual inflation rate of 2.9 percent is a reasonable compromise that benefits the commercial workers.

A key point of the negotiations was the demand for a permanent, linear increase in real wage by 4%, which could not be fully implemented. Nevertheless, the agreement with a salary increase that lies above the inflation rate represents progress.

advantages for the employees

The changes also bring advantages for pension scheme in particular younger employees, since the increase in pension fund contributions is a sustainable improvement in retirement provision. Wolfgang Pischinger, the chief negotiator of the GPA, emphasized that the new collective agreement has achieved a permanent improvement, which also serves to secure the future of the employees.

A two -year contract was made for the private hospitals, which also applies from today's date. Wages there rise by 0.45 percent above average inflation between December 2023 and October 2024, which corresponds to about 2.7 percent. A premium of 836 euros is also being planned for the employee of Swiss Post as part of a financial participation in the company's success.

The current situation in the financial sector reflects the positive developments. In 2024, the financial industry achieved profits of 10.7 billion euros, a historical second highest result, which also legitimizes the demands for higher wages.

For the upcoming negotiations, a further exchange between the works councils and the employers will be sought to secure fair conditions and standards for the entire industry.

Read more about the developments in the collective contracts on Kosmo , and OTS