SALARIES in the public sector vary widely.
On average, public servants are paid less than their private-sector counterparts, but generous pension settlements and stronger job security offset some of that discrepancy.
In Scotland, teachers can expect to start on at least £20,937 this y
ear but their earnings can rocket to £78,6412 if they become head teachers.
• Nurses' starting salaries in Scotland are £13,233 while matrons and nurse consultants can top around £65,000.
• Nearly half of the civil service, or approximately 250,000 people, earn less than £20,000 a year.
• 18,000 jobs have already been cut with a total of 25,000 planned by 2011 in addition to more than 200 offices axed.
• BBC director-general Mark Thompson earns £647,000 a year as a basic salary plus bonuses.
• In Scotland, about 623,300 people work in the public sector, compared with 6.5 million for the whole UK.
• The Scottish Government employed 4,847 people in 2008.
• Fewer than 31,000 people work in the private sector in Edinburgh.
• There were 1,883,700 people employed in the private sector across Scotland in the first three months of this year.
• Public-sector employment in Scotland has increased by 3,400 (0.6 per cent) over the year.
