How much is important work really worth to us?
During the last global financial crisis, banks were considered systemically important. Now, amid COVID-19, "systemically important" means something else: front-line nurses, doctors, drivers and educators.
The really important jobs
The term "systemically important" was coined for such men and (a few) women and their employers in 2008 after bankers triggered a massive global financial crisis. And since our amazing economic system does not work without banks, the bankers (and even the greedy crooks among them) were placed under a protective shield. They and their institutes were just too systemically important to let go.
Be responsible, act responsibly
The bankers had caused the mess, yet everyone else like cashiers, nurses, laboratory technicians and bus drivers were called upon to pay to clean it up. In the current crisis, however, it is now these people who are systemically important. And rightly so, because without them nothing would work anymore. But unlike the bankers 12 years ago, these people are NOT responsible for the crisis.
Poor pay for important work
These so-called "little people" like shop clerks and nurses now face the daily risk of being infected — a risk not to be underestimated — by just continuing to do their job every day. But they have to work since "nothing comes from nothing" and their rent still needs to be paid each month. Today, the average wage for a nurse in Germany is €38,554 ($42,400) a year.
Now that's a company car
A company car that costs less than €50,000? Any self-respecting investment banker would rather walk than be seen at the wheel of such a vehicle. But a professional truck or bus driver has a whole different set of rules. His, or her, company car costs in excess of six digits, but the driver on average only earns €29,616 a year.
An underrated profession
For many professions you only notice how important they are when they are gone. Right now most kindergarten teachers in Germany have to stay at home because kindergartens are closed. They miss the kids, and the kids miss their routines. Now many parents are stuck without child care and see how important these institutions are. But then why do these teachers only earn €36,325 on average per year?
A duty beyond money
People with weakened immune systems, including the elderly, are particularly at risk in the event of a global pandemic and they urgently need help and care. But in Germany, the work of caregivers for the elderly is worth only €32,932 a year. Even an auto mechanic earns more than that. A comparison to what most investment bankers earn would just be insulting.
Searching for a way out of the crisis
The coronavirus scare is only over when there is a vaccine. Many employees in the pharmaceutical industry are working on this — often for only €28,698 a year. For a comparison, before the 2008/2009 financial crisis was even over, the "systemically important" investment bankers who started it all were already arguing for their bonuses. And were not talking about €28,000, but millions.
A shameful comparison
Look at any hospital in Germany and compare it with one of the shiny sky-high bank palaces, and consider how little we economically value the work of people who work for other people. The comparisons will make you really dizzy. One can only hope that the coronavirus crisis will make some of us rethink our priorities. But do you really believe things will change?