Salary increase: Geologists in second place – after athletes and before street cleaners

According to salary statistics from SSB, geologists and geophysicists have clearly gotten the highest salary increase among Tekna professions over the past year, receiving an average increase of 15.1% (see a list of all Tekna professions below):

– We’re seeing high salary increases for certain jobs in the oil and gas industry in the first quarter, which is probably due to high bonus payments, and this reflects the extraordinary profits made by oil and gas companies over the past year. Geologists and geophysicists are professions with a strong connection to oil and gas, says the head of Tekna’s Salary and Special Interest Committee, Emir Causevic.

At this point in the annual wage negotiations, Causevic’s particularly pleased with the results for STEM teachers; now come wage negotiations in the private sector. He says:

– Tekna’s member groups in the public sector have finished their wage negotiations and gotten a result that’s a bit over the so-called ‘Big 4’ (industrial leading sectors). Our STEM teachers got an especially good wage settlement and hope that this will help reverse the current low recruitment to this field. Our member groups in the private sector have only local negotiations, which start in the middle of May.

Athletes over geologists

Geologists and geophysicists have the next highest salary increase among all Norwegian professions over the past year. Only professional athletes have gotten a higher salary increase, which is most likely due to the premier football leagues’ new TV contract.

– We have a theory that the overall large salary growth for athletes is caused by the football leagues’ new TV deal.

NISO head Erlend Hanstveit explains that the high salary growth for professional athletes came from a new TV deal for top-level football.

Football players in the Elite Series, OBOS League and Top Series make up a large portion of the 2,000 wage earners in SSB’s “Athletes” category. The new TV deal has given these clubs the chance to pay their players higher salaries. – At the same time, the average monthly salary of NOK 69,000 doesn’t reflect the big differences between the different kinds of sports, says union head Erlend Hanstveit in NISO, a trade union representing professional athletes.

The head of Tekna’s Salary and Special Interest Committee, Emir Causevic, warns Tekna’s union representatives in the private sector not to look too hard at the so-called “Big 4” pay estimates:

– Local negotiations in the private sector should normally look at their company’s current financial situation, competitive edge, productivity and future outlook. My advice to representatives is to learn a lot about their company’s finances and dare to ask for pay that reflects their expertise. We now have a labor market that’s unparalleled in recent times, where our members are sought on LinkedIn and by headhunters, says Causevic.

Recent statistics from SSB on available jobs confirm that the labor market is unparalleled in recent times:

Make up for moderation and inflation

Causevic states that Tekna representatives have to make up for moderation and inflation in recent years:  

– We’ve had some wage settlements that haven’t been that great, where moderation’s been shown and salary growth to a large degree’s been eaten up by inflation. So we have to make sure that we get something back when times are good and when our expertise has an especially high value, he says.