Survey: Armed Forces say ‘pride’ not enough

“To the item ‘I do not mind the relatively less salary in Government Service as the joy of serving the nation is a reward in itself’ only 38 per cent agreed while 62 per cent disagreed,” the study reveals.

The study goes on to say that 62 per cent of respondents did not feel that the “joy of serving the nation” offsets the “relatively less salary in Government Service”. In fact, more than 70 per cent of the respondents said they themselves can easily get “more challenging” and better paying jobs in the private sector.

Bringing out the frustration of the Armed Forces over disparity in pay compared to the private sector, a majority of 77 per cent said they were not getting a “fair amount” of financial compensation for the work being put in.

The study also points out that most Armed Forces personnel feel stifled in the services due to lack of promotion opportunities and feel a career growth plan was lacking. “While 64 per cent disagreed on ‘my organisation encourages employees to plan for their career growth’, 75 per cent agreed that ‘there is too little chance for promotion on my job’,” it says.

The primary grouse of the Armed Forces seems to be that even by taking government perks and the pay together, private jobs were still a better bet. The survey says that a “whopping 95 per cent agreed to the statement ‘looking at the monetary aspects alone, I feel that the pay is less in Government service compared to the private sector”.

What they say

53% don’t want children to join forces

73% feel they are not getting a fair deal compared to work put in

62% say that pride of serving the nation not enough to offset low salary

75% say little chance of promotion in services

95% feel that in terms of money, they are getting less than private sector