Functionaries' paradise

WKO boss Mahrer & Co. gilded their salaries

Lower Austria President Wolfgang Ecker (left) and Vienna boss Walter Ruck (right) each earn over 14,000 euros per month. Only WKO President Harald Mahrer (center) is higher at over 15,000 euros.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Rita Newman Eva Manhart Gerhard Bartel ROLAND SCHLAGER / APA / picturedesk.com)

Despite lower bonuses for employees, thriftiness is still not the order of the day in the executive floors of the chambers of commerce. Since July, boss Harald Mahrer himself has received an increase of 2,600 euros per month. In the provinces, the functionaries increased their salaries by up to 50 percent, one vice president even doubled his salary.

The Chamber of Commerce is postponing the salary increase for employees by six months. However, there is little sign of savings at management level, on the contrary.

"Functional compensation" with generous upper limits
The "functional compensation" is based on a fixed framework with a cap, which for a regional president, for example, is EUR 14,075 gross per month. In 2024, no chamber exhausted this, "actual remuneration" was lower.

Since the middle of the year and the start of his new term of office, WKO President Mahrer now receives EUR 15,158.60 instead of EUR 12,524 per month, twelve times a year, around EUR 2,600 more. In addition, as President of the National Bank, he receives 88,000 euros per year, which is why the Court of Auditors is now getting involved.

The eight vice presidents now receive 7579 euros instead of 5970 euros. The divisional chairmen, including Raiffeisen manager Michael Höllerer, jump from 3209 to 5306 euros. Höllerer, however, has waived his WKO salary.

Lower Austria President Wolfgang Ecker (left) and Vienna boss Walter Ruck (right) each earn over 14,000 euros a month. Only WKO President Harald Mahrer (center) is above that with over 15,000 euros.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Rita Newman Eva Manhart Gerhard Bartel ROLAND SCHLAGER / APA / picturedesk.com)

Lower Austria stands out among the federal states. According to the website, the salary of boss Wolfgang Ecker was 9302 euros in 2024, while it is currently 14,076 euros. An increase of 4770 euros and 57,280 euros per year, a median full-time annual salary as an increase! There was a larger increase for the vice presidents, whose salary doubled to 7038 euros.

In Vienna, too, the top positions are maxing out the maximum limit. Instead of 11,616.60 euros, President Walter Ruck received the full 14,076 euros. The six deputies receive between 5630 and 7038 euros.

The salaries of the chamber bosses

All amounts are gross and are paid monthly, 12 times a year. The increase relates to 2024.

Austrian Federal Economic Chamber
President: 15,158.60 euros (+21 percent)
Vice President (elected): 7,579.30 euros (+27 percent)

Vienna Chamber of Commerce
President: 14,075.82 euros (+21%)
Vice President (elected): 7037.91 euros (+62 percent)

Burgenland Chamber of Commerce
President: 10,827.55 euros (+55 percent)
Vice President: 3789.65 euros (+63 percent)

Lower Austria Chamber of Commerce
President: 14,075.82 euros (+51 percent)
Vice President: 7037.91 euros (+102 percent)

Styrian Chamber of Commerce
President: 10,827.55 euros (+55 percent)
Vice President: 4926.54 euros (+41 percent)

Carinthian Chamber of Commerce
President: 6976.50 euros (+0 percent)
Vice President: 2325.40 euros (+0 percent)

Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce
President: 9853.07 euros (+41 percent)
Vice President: 4926.54 euros (+41 percent)

Salzburg Chamber of Commerce
President: 10,394.99 euros (+49 percent)
Vice President: 3464.06 euros (+49 percent)

Tyrol Chamber of Commerce
President: 10,394.40 euros (+49 percent)
Vice President: 3,464.80 euros (+62 percent)

Vorarlberg Chamber of Commerce
President: 6976.50 euros (+15 percent)
Vice President: 2325.40 euros (+15 percent)

In Burgenland and Styria, the monthly remuneration rose from EUR 6977 to EUR 10,828, an increase of 55%! In Salzburg, compensation in 2024 was also still EUR 6976 and now stands at EUR 10,394, also around 50 percent more. The Tyrolean boss is happy about the same figure. The Upper Austrian chamber increased the compensation to 9853 euros, which is 41% more.

In Carinthia, on the other hand, remuneration remained the same, at 6980 euros per month for the president. In Vorarlberg, an "internal chamber" limit of 6977 euros applies.

Mahrer: "Nobody gets anything for free here"
Mahrer defends the lavish salaries and justifies them with a standardization and reform, in which the rates were also adjusted to inflation after years: "Nobody is getting anything for free here."

However, the fact that after two years of recession, of all things, the top salaries financed by compulsory contributions have increased by thousands of euros per month leaves a skewed impression.

AK boss earns over 14,000 euros a month
Incidentally, AK President Renate Anderl is slightly below WKÖ President Harald Mahrer with her monthly gross salary of 14,491.94 euros. IV President Georg Knill, on the other hand, receives no additional compensation to his income as an entrepreneur.