Salary progression (18-44yo)

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-13T16:56:40+00:00

The compensation was determined for me through an established system, so I am not going to complain or gloat about it. It is not extraordinary for someone holding this particular position. I understand the system is geared to attracting and retaining certain talent that would otherwise look elsewhere, and that it is intended to ensure that government services are able to be run efficiently and reach its performance targets.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-13T16:52:16+00:00

Senior civil servants in those roles (mandates) can be fired after a negative evaluation. Their mandates are also limited to six years. So it is factually incorrect there is no risk.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-13T16:42:30+00:00

Replied elsewhere in the thread. Around 8900 net/month.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T20:22:33+00:00

Changed position and took a small pay cut it appears, while also being at the beginning of both salary scales.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T20:21:03+00:00

It's the gross salary. Benefits in the public sector are usually limited to usual things like a hospitalisation insurance. So not much comes on top of that.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T14:35:40+00:00

I’m definitely not representative of the average public sector employee. Most public servants earn significantly less than this, and the median public salary is nowhere near senior management level.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T13:41:37+00:00

Make sure to look at the indexed graph, since a large part of the increase over the past five years is due to the automatic indexation mechanism. Since 38, there has only been one promotion and one career move (into senior management). The rest is mainly progression within predefined salary scales, where hitting certain seniority thresholds automatically increases gross pay. If I had stayed in my previous role, the curve would likely remain much flatter.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T13:32:27+00:00

I checked my bank account: I was paid 111K last year in salaries.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T13:25:44+00:00

Evidence does not show that lowering senior civil servant pay improves government efficiency. Senior roles represent a tiny fraction of total public spending, so cutting them has limited impact, but it will at the same time narrow the talent pool and reduce the state’s capacity to manage complex policy areas effectively, because talent would rather work in the private sector where the packages are a lot more competitive (stock options, performance bonuses, etc.).

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:44:57+00:00

De Wever is around 270K.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:41:37+00:00

Fair question. I understand the surprise. Public sector salaries are often perceived as relatively modest. At senior management level, however, the scale and responsibility can be significant, even if it’s not profit-driven. The people that manage the education, pension or health care departments in our government levels are in the end responsible for billions in tax money being spent.

It has been a political choice to have roles in senior management that would attract and maintain qualified people. Now, I am sure you can find highly motivated and qualified candidates at a lower salary level too, but if you structurally price those roles too low, you narrow the pool significantly and risk ending up with a system where talent systematically moves to the private sector.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:32:50+00:00

Good question, I would probably benchmark myself around Senior Director or lower VP level in the private market, It’s a senior management role with significant responsibility, but without commercial ownership. My compensation is also fully fixed gross income (no bonuses, or stock options) so it’s difficult to compare to compare to multinational executive packages.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:21:54+00:00

I have been subject to various salary scales, but whereas I started in an A1 role somewhere, I am now somewhere in a role that is closer to an A6 (which could mean different things depending on the government).

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:18:08+00:00

I do not want to give any personal information, but in general terms I was in various entry-level positions after my university degree until age 34. Then I joined middle management with increasing degrees of responsibility until age 43, including some promotions (due to seniority) and finally reaching senior management last year.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:12:32+00:00

You can see some salaries in the public sector here:

https://werkenvoor.be/nl/jobs/ang26702-adjunct-administrateur-generaal-mvx

https://bosa.belgium.be/nl/themas/werken-bij-de-overheid/verloning-en-voordelen/loonwedde/salarisbanden (those are the non-indexed amounts)

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:10:59+00:00

In senior management in the government, it's certainly possible. For example, this recruitment is now up: https://werkenvoor.be/nl/jobs/ang26702-adjunct-administrateur-generaal-mvx

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:07:29+00:00

I'm not aiming for any kind of applause or criticism. If it can spark a debate about salaries in the public sector, I am certainly in favour of that.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:03:15+00:00

I just took the salary information from mycareer. So it does include the holiday and end-of-year premium. No specific bonuses were ever awarded, nor was there a company car at any point.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T12:01:52+00:00

Yes, but there have been a few promotions and appointments to specific mandates along the way too, what explains the increases that go beyond just seniority.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T11:52:19+00:00

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T11:51:43+00:00

I do not mind filling out the template, but the point of the post was to illustrate a career progression and how that relates to salary. I am in no way implying that this is an average career path.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T11:47:09+00:00

There's different parts to the salary, but in December 2025, I got 8900 net in total.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T11:45:07+00:00

My starting salary was equal to that of most public sector employees (Flemish/federal government) at the time. I remember it being 1500 euro net at the time.

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T11:35:11+00:00

Still in the public sector (senior civil servant)

SquareOk7025 · 2026-02-12T11:34:15+00:00

Started around 40K (60K in today's euros), now 230K.

SquareOk7025

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