Much is being made of the fact that we are coming out of recession and frankly the outlook is better. But we need to consider what “coming out of recession” means.
It means we are no longer going backwards – the economy is no longer in reverse gear. But that doesn’t mean we have found first gear. Simply not going backwards is not good enough. We need to find the right gear to move forward.
Recession is an important part of the economic cycle. Companies are forced to get leaner, meaner and more efficient and therefore well positioned to participate in the worldwide recovery. But there are still some areas that really concern me. Internationally there is still an enormous amount of greed obvious at the top level in companies. The recession does not seem to have had any effect on the huge remuneration packages being demanded and paid to senior management.
In the USA the problem remains. Here in Australasia it has got worse. The head of Telstra earning $16m – the head of the CBA bank getting $11m. Think about that. Ralph Norris, who is a very good Manager admittedly, goes to work each week where he is directed by a board of directors, supported by experts in every field, and runs the bank. For that he is paid $220,000 per week. That’s right, $220,000 per week.
In New Zealand we pay the head of Telecom in excess of $7m per year. In a country that sends its front line police offers in to face armed offenders and expects those officers to be happy to earn 55 to 70 thousand dollars a year, we pay the head of Telecom $140,000 per week.
Some of you, by now will be starting to think I have been converted to socialism but that is far from the truth. I just believe there needs to be some fairness in the remuneration levels different members of society receive.
We expect our Doctors and Nurses to work their butts off – and they do – in under-funded and under-resourced institutions like the HB Hospital. The Doctors work incredible hours for a pittance considering the years of training they have done and nurses earn less per month that the head of Telecom does before smoko on a Monday.
I don’t know about you – but I think somehow, these excesses need to be addressed, if the economy is going to move forward.
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