City discloses employee compensation

[gladaki]

City of calgary discloses employee compensation.
http://www.calgary.ca/CA/cmo/Pages/C...isclosure.aspx

Thought people on forum will find it useful , in case someone decide to work for city in future.

[Weitz]

"Ranges" lol

[CaptainCrunch]

I think that this doesn't serve the overall picture.

It would be nice to understand the complete compensation package which includes all benefits.

It would also be nice to get a census in terms of head count at each position.

[Bill Bumface]

I think there is enough information to come to the conclusion there is a good reason City employees have a reputation for being slow or lazy. They get paid like crap.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I think there is enough information to come to the conclusion there is a good reason City employees have a reputation for being slow or lazy. They get paid like crap.

Where you do see that?

And again when you enter in the perks of the job in terms of pension plans, days off etc, They are compensated extremely well.

[bizaro86]

I would say that looks ~10% lower than private sector base pay, and where I work the vacation/benefits/pension are of comparable value to what the city gets. That's only for the very few jobs I know what people at my work get paid. Seems about right for the increased job security compared to private sector.

As an aside, I was surprised to see "Gardener Zoo" and various types of zookeepers on the list. I thought the zoo was an independent society, I didn't know it was part of the city.

[lazypucker]

I disagree about the city employees being underpaid. Take a look at the current job market and the abundance of oil & gas casualties, employers are actually low-balling a lot of the "experienced professionals," especially in the IT field that I am in....

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

I disagree about the city employees being underpaid. Take a look at the current job market and the abundance of oil & gas casualties, employers are actually low-balling a lot of the "experienced professionals," especially in the IT field that I am in....

Boom times in Calgary - no one cares about City worker compensation. City workers are making peanuts compared to O&G.. haha!

Bust times in Calgary - everyone cares about City worker compensation. City workers are making too much damn money! What about all the poor people being laid off in O&G!

[Northendzone]

i don't get too bent out of shape about these lists - for the city to hire and retain people they need to pay competitively to the market. a gardener at the zoo does not determine his own compensation.

i also beleive that the city has an obligation to provide people with a wage that allows them to be able to afford to live in the city.

One thing to also remember is that many city workers do not reeive any variable pay or stock options.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I think there is enough information to come to the conclusion there is a good reason City employees have a reputation for being slow or lazy. They get paid like crap.

This is so far from reality though!

City employee turnout is very low at ALL levels (educated/non-educated, management/unions, office/field). They do move around a lot within the organization, as the City promotes it, but they don't leave the City much at all. There is a good reason for it - they are very well compensated and they can rarely find better overall compensation package in the private employment market. Short hours, good longevity/loyalty rewards, great benefits, good child care, additional pension benefits, almost 100% market-insulated job security. This by far outweighs a few extra bucks offered by some private industries when economy is doing well.

[polak]

Yup. One of the guys I graduated with got hired on by the city. He was bummed out at first cause as buyer straight out of Uni, for the city he was making $21/hr an hour while those of us who got jobs in O&G (like 90% of the class that year) were making between 50 and 60 K a year.

I ran into him at a bar the other day and he says he's happy he is where he is now. I'm assuming that has more to do with the fact that he's safe and sound but still. Happy camper.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Where you do see that?

And again when you enter in the perks of the job in terms of pension plans, days off etc, They are compensated extremely well.

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

This is so far from reality though!

City employee turnout is very low at ALL levels (educated/non-educated, management/unions, office/field). They do move around a lot within the organization, as the City promotes it, but they don't leave the City much at all. There is a good reason for it - they are very well compensated and they can rarely find better overall compensation package in the private employment market. Short hours, good longevity/loyalty rewards, great benefits, good child care, additional pension benefits, almost 100% market-insulated job security. This by far outweighs a few extra bucks offered by some private industries when economy is doing well.

Business Analyst $ 49,631 $ 66,339
Applications Support Analyst $ 59,914 $ 80,153

That is fairly meager if they are using the titles the same as O&G.

I think there is low turnover because the City provides a different degree of stability, pace and work/life balance. I don't think that the level of compensation is necessarily bringing in 100s of resumes for the best and brightest for every job posting.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Business Analyst $ 49,631 $ 66,339
Applications Support Analyst $ 59,914 $ 80,153

That is fairly meager if they are using the titles the same as O&G.

I think there is low turnover because the City provides a different degree of stability, pace and work/life balance. I don't think that the level of compensation is necessarily bringing in 100s of resumes for the best and brightest for every job posting.

Business and Asset Strategies Lead $ 87,217 $ 133,582

It looks like the managers make decent coin.
An entry level business analyst making 50K is only 5K a year less than what I started at for MEG Energy in an Analyst role.

[Red Slinger]

I don't think compensation is the cause of the poor reputation of city workers. I think it's more the staggering bereaucracy and toxic atmosphere that crushes their souls and saps the life out of many of them until they just don't give a damn anymore.

[GaiJin]

The city has a crew of tailors.
Looks like the city is paying higher for my line of work by about 15% if that's just their base.

[Northendzone]

Wow a Crain driver can make up to $71,000 while a bus driver can make up to $65,000.

Surprised that a c-train driver does not make more.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Wow a Crain driver can make up to $71,000 while a bus driver can make up to $65,000.

Surprised that a c-train driver does not make more.

Bus driver is way higher stress, and really higher risk. Seems to me that the ctrain should be paid less

[blueski]

A software development contract at the city vs oil or other industries would pay 20-30% lower from what I've seen over the years of talking to recruiters trying to place me there.

Being able to deliver value is always the best kind of job security in my opinion. I'd rather make the same in ten months and have two off than have to work the whole year for the same take home pay. or two years off over ten...

One thing people don't realize about these lifer gigs is that they do layoff every now and then too. It's not pretty trying to find work after ten years at just one place.

[CliffFletcher]

I assume for city employees at some point it becomes all about the pension. I would happily trade a 10 per cent reduction in my salary for a guaranteed pension at 25 years, or age 65, or whatever the formula is. The downside is a pension after X number of years can lead to people sticking around in jobs they don't like for way too long.

[Kjesse]

I'm OK with them not releasing specific names. The bigger issue is they do not disclose the rest of the compensation package. Pension in particular is huge. I would guess it has not been disclosed because its better than anything in the private sector and they don't want it scrutinized.