Löhne und Gehälter in der deutschen Archäologie – Auswertung der DGUF-Umfrage „Evaluation Beruf Archäologie“ 10.6.-31.10. 2019 (EvaBA 2)

Abstract

The “Evaluation Beruf Archäologie” (EvaBA) survey conducted by the DGUF in 2019 provided a comprehensive picture of the situation in Germany’s archaeology thanks to 624 usable responses (Siegmund, Scherzler & Schauer, 2020). The present evaluation step on the topic of wages and salaries is based on 517 currently active professionals (i.e. excluding those in training, unemployed, etc.) from all sectors of archaeology: service providers and laboratory archaeology, the private sector, state archaeological heritage management, museums, universities and research institutions. The evaluation provides for the first time a detailed and statistically reliable insight into this important topic. With a total of 43 % of all employees, the proportion of temporary employment contracts in archaeology is unusually high (Fig. 2; 37). While private sector archaeologists work predominantly with permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts dominate in the university and research sector with a share of 73 %. The high proportion of fixed-term contracts in state archaeological heritage management is surprising; it is mainly found in those federal states of Germany, where excavation companies are not allowed to operate (Fig. 6). Last but not least, in contrast to the private sector, many of the fixed-term employment contracts in state archaeological heritage management cannot be extended or can only be extended to a very limited extent (Fig. 4-5).For archaeologists with an academic (university) degree, classification in pay group 13 of the civil service is the norm. However, it is noticeable that a significant proportion of archaeologists, despite having an academic degree, are only employed in the higher service pay group (pay group 9-12) – not in the highest service pay group (pay group 13 ff.; Fig. 9), and that a significant proportion of archaeologists, despite many years of professional experience, are classified in a rather low experience level (Fig. 11). In both cases, there is no systematic discrimination against women (or men). The EvaBA figures confirm that one fifth of the volunteers (who were also briefly examined here beyond the core group of 517 fulltime professionals) are paid below the recommendations of the German Museums Association (DMB, Deutscher Museumsbund). Among the self-employed and freelancers, a very broad income spectrum can be observed (Fig. 29), some of which is alarmingly low and some of which reaches an adequate level. The salary level in private sector archaeology is at all levels (Fig. 23) significantly below the salary level in the public sector, but also significantly below the salary level in the construction industry, with which it interacts in many ways. At the level of excavation assistants and skilled workers, a considerable proportion are paid wages that are at or just little above the level of the minimum wage in Germany and are comparable to wages that are only paid outside archaeology in socially strongly criticised low-wage industries (e. g. Amazon, system catering). Scientific excavation directors achieve on average only 60 % of the salary of their colleagues in the public sector who have similar qualifications and do similar work.