Manager salaries: This is what Austrian executives earn on average

The data is recorded 45. Income Study of the Business Forum of Managers (WDF). For the current survey, 632 first and second level managers were surveyed, and the results were presented at a press conference on Thursday. The most important finding, according to WdF federal chairman Roman Teichert: “Executive salaries do not develop independently of economic reality.”

The larger and more international the company, the more cautious the salary development. In companies with over 1,000 employees or an annual turnover of more than 500 million euros, managers at the first management level received an average of 30,000 euros less gross than in the previous year. A development that the WdF federal chairman sees critically: “It takes good managers who can navigate companies through economically challenging times. Right now, top people are needed who also have to be paid fairly and in line with the market.” But overall income is increasingly linked to the company’s economic success. Not least because the basic salary is being supplemented by more and more variable salary components.

Bonuses are becoming more important

The proportion of variable compensation (e.g. bonuses) for managers has increased significantly within a year. While only 59 percent of managers received variable salary components in 2024, the figure is now 63 percent. However, it is not the bonus per se that would increase, explains Teichert, but rather the performance orientation. “The variable remuneration really reflects the entrepreneurial performance,” analyzes Teichert. The economic success of the company – specifically the profit or the achievement of goals – is therefore decisive as to whether and to what extent bonuses are paid out.

Another factor for income: mobility. Those who travel less than ten days per year usually only earn half as much as managers who travel a lot (approx. 80 days), analyzes triconsult CEO Felix Josef, who evaluated the data. Male managers spend an average of 92 days on business trips per year. For female managers it is eleven days less, although it should be noted that the proportion of women in the top management levels is still manageable. There are more female young managers than male ones, emphasizes Wajden Byloff from the WdF initiative “Women Leadership Alliance”. However, available leadership positions are rare.

“The department head is virtually extinct”

For 40 years, the WdF has observed the disappearance of the second and third levels of management. “The median number of personnel responsible for the second level is 800 people. In general, only large companies have a second management level; the department head is virtually extinct,” says Felix Josef.

However, another development that emerged within the survey would be more worrying. Because investments are stopped, managers are putting the brakes on their budgets. They complain about high costs – especially when it comes to wages and ancillary wage costs. A third are planning or have already done so to relocate production to a cheaper location outside of Austria. “We have never had anything like this before,” says Roman Teichert.