This shows that women, who make up around 47 percent of the workforce, are far more often represented in lower salary brackets. Men, on the other hand, dominate the top ones. 709 of the 3,422 ORF employees listed in the report earn up to 50,000 euros gross per year. Two thirds of them are women. 1,110 people fall into the second lowest category (50,000 to 75,000 euros) – 54 percent of them women. In the next higher category (75,000 to 100,000 euros), men are already in the lead with 63 percent of the 955 people recorded. The result is even clearer for salaries between 100,000 and 150,000 euros: 73 percent of the 556 ORF employees in this category are male. 63 people earn between 150,000 and 200,000 euros at ORF, three quarters of them men. 29 ORF employees earn over 200,000 euros, 72 percent of them men.
Weissmann “hurts” the gender pay gap
ORF boss Roland Weißmann is hurt by this “evident gender pay gap,” as he stated in an email to employees. But “structures that have grown over decades” cannot be changed within a short period of time. In any case, equality and diversity are important to him as ORF boss.
Ö3 presenter Robert Kratky (approx. 444,000 euros), corporate social responsibility boss Pius Strobl (approx. 426,000 euros) and ORF boss Weißmann (approx. 426,000 euros) earn more than 300,000 euros. This means that all three of them are ahead of Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), who received a salary of around 317,000 euros in 2022. But the ORF is not alone in this: in 2022, according to a report by the Court of Auditors, the annual salaries of top managers in 26 public sector companies were higher than the chancellor’s salary. The highest average board salaries were paid by Post (1.99 million euros) and Verbund (1.46 million euros).
Top earners with a respectful distance from managers
However, ORF top earners have a certain respect distance from managers in state-affiliated cultural institutions. Johanna Rachinger, General Director of the Austrian National Library, earned 267,100 euros in 2022. Sabine Haag, general director of the Art History Museum, came to 260,200 euros. State Opera Director Bogdan Roščić received 256,200 euros and Albertina General Director Albrecht Schröder received 214,300 euros.
After criticism from the ÖVP and FPÖ regarding the high salaries for ORF management, the SPÖ also spoke out on Tuesday. “The published very high salaries in ORF management are completely incomprehensible. Such salaries should no longer exist,” SPÖ media spokeswoman Muna Duzdar was quoted as saying in a broadcast. It is incomprehensible that, on the one hand, there are exorbitantly high manager salaries and, on the other hand, many young people are precariously employed in the radio sector. She called on ORF boss Weißmann to ensure a comprehensible salary structure and clear rules for additional earnings.
Demand for a reduction in secondary employment
The ORF has published a code of ethics that, among other things, regulates secondary employment for ORF employees more precisely than before. Heinz Lederer, head of the SPÖ “Circle of Friends” on the ORF Board of Trustees, called for a “strong reduction” in part-time employment. He feared that some ORF employees would otherwise miss out on recovery, which is important not only for the person themselves but also for the employer. A “large portion” of the additional income should also flow into a central ORF social and training fund. “We will strongly recommend that the Director General supplement the Code of Ethics accordingly,” said Lederer.
With regard to top salaries, he noted: “Height is always irritating.” It is important that the payments are objective and that they are highly dependent on success. Lederer wants to know whether this is the case and whether international benchmarking is taking place and is therefore demanding that minutes from the remuneration committee, to which only some of the foundation board members had access under the then chairman of the foundation board Norbert Steger, be disclosed to the finance committee in the top ORF committee become.
revenue and spending figures
In addition to salaries, the ORF transparency report 2023 also shows figures on advertising income and expenses. The ORF earned the most in advertising with ORF 2 (around 79 million euros). This is followed by Ö3 (approx. 58 million euros) and ORF 1 (approx. 50 million euros).
The ORF spent a total of around 12.7 million euros on self-promotion. The ORF umbrella brand campaign “ORF. For you and me and everyone” cost the public media company around 1.7 million euros. The accompanying market research shows that 43 percent of those surveyed noticed the campaign or slogan.
A large part of the ORF budget goes into in-house and commissioned productions. The ORF is spending a total of 511.6 million euros on this, or around half of its sales. Television productions make up the largest chunk at around 377 million euros, followed by radio (around 112 million euros) and online (around 23 million euros). Co-productions also accounted for around 27.5 million euros.
