. As for
employees in privatised companies, the evidence is somewhat ambiguous: a substantial
number lost their jobs in the run-up to privatisation and of those who remained, the
main ‘gainers’ in terms of salary and other benefits appear to have been senior executives
rather than ordinary personnel (e.g. the controversy over the salary increases of the
heads of privatised utilities).
Measured against some of the government’s stated (or apparent) objectives, a number
of studies have suggested that privatisation has helped to: