Despite high inflation, virtually no salary increases since mid-2019
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Gradually, working conditions seem to be improving somewhat, i.e. patent examiners seem to be perceived as human beings again, with abilities, needs and limitations, and there is a little faith again in the intrinsic motivation of staff (instead of a tightly woven net of absurd performance targets and suspicious control, as before). It's far from perfect, but the improvement is nice - staff are enjoying the fact that the pain is subsiding ...
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Salary increases have effectively been abolished since mid-2019. Until then, the increases for civil servants in the member states had been used as a guide. Now there is a maximum of inflation + 0.25%. With a number of clever exceptions, so that the increase at the beginning of 2021 was only 0.5% and at the beginning of 2022 is apparently completely absent. So from mid-2019 to the end of 2022 (3.5 years), probably a total of 0.5% salary increase. One has to fear that this will continue as the same set of rules will continue to apply. Thus, relatively speaking, the EPA salary is getting worse and worse, since in normal industries, yes, there are salary increases in line with inflation + economic growth. This is something to keep in mind when embarking on an EPO career. Even if the salary seems nice at the beginning it will be worth less and less as the years go by. But it is damn hard to start another career after a few years as an EPO patent examiner, because the job experience is only relevant in a few other jobs. I.e., you tie yourself to a career where your salary is likely to permanently lag behind the increases in the general cost of living.
Moreover, in the recent past we have had severe discrimination and rapid deterioration of working conditions even for younger colleagues who already get less than half the average salary. The latter continues to apply, and that without the younger colleagues receiving correspondingly lower performance targets. At least the tone has recently become friendlier.
The requirements have risen rapidly in recent years; since 2020, there seems to have been a certain relentlessness, but we'll have to see how far that goes. First of all, we have the situation that even young colleagues (still) have to do more than experienced auditors did a few years ago. And in the past, it was possible to attract really highly qualified people. The often less talented newcomers (you can't get the best ones under today's conditions) have a hard time, burnout is widespread. Depending on the technical field, you have to process more than 100 applications per year, which includes the analysis of about 200 documents on the state of the art + the application itself + the search (to find the 200 documents first) + writing the office actions, possibly meetings in the examining division and with the applicant, etc. For this you have 1 to 1.5 days net (of course you have to do all kinds of other things besides working on your own files, so that only the mentioned 1 to 1.5 days remain for your own files). If you like that, go ahead, but please think about it beforehand.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
In terms of working conditions and supervisor behavior, the direction has been right since 2020, which gives hope. In view of the disastrous long-term measures before that, there is still a lot to be done though. I don't mean promoting idleness, but rather creating a constructive environment where everyone is happy to do what they can do in a sustainable and healthy way. Not less, but also not more. In the recent past, unfortunately, much more has often been enforced without compromise.
With regard to salary increases, normal conditions must be re-established as quickly as possible, i.e. salary increases must be increased again in line with the salary increases in the member states. Otherwise it will become quite uncomfortable for the employees, particularly since these are forced to live at very expensive locations, above all Munich. The real estate price development is not satisfied with +0.5% in 3.5 years ...