The salaries of senior managers are expected to rise fastest in Ireland and Greece during 2003, according to a report.
Watson Wyatt's Top Management Compensation Report for Western Europe, which examines compensation trends across 17 Western European countries, shows average expected increases in 2003 for top managers in Greece to be 6.0 per cent and 5.8 per cent in Ireland.
The lowest expected increases - at 3.3 per cent - are in France and Switzerland. The expected average salary increase for senior managers in the Britain is 4 per cent.
However, Greek and Irish senior managers' pay remains behind colleagues in some other European countries.
For example, comparing the earnings of general managers, European heads of functions and domestic heads across Europe, those in Switzerland and Britain are the highest paid, with on average over €260,000 in annual total pay.
Those in Greece, Norway and Sweden are paid the least, with average annual total pay of less than €180,000.
"Such international comparisons should be treated with caution because of exchange rates and the effect of other factors such as tax and the cost of living in different countries," Ms Anne Severeyns, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt in Brussels.
"There is also a trend towards multinationals having the most senior positions in a small group of key countries in Western Europe and also to have larger operations in those countries".