HT,
With one of my previous ATC employers, they kept mouthing off about how "Safety will never be compromised". The bit they left off the end is "except when it comes to money".
You are quite correct, as with most ATC in most parts of the world, we are moving more traffic than ever with less than a full complement of staff and (where I am now) pretty much the same salary.
Thats what you get when you choose a thankless (for the most part, anyway) career with enormous responsibility. I don't regret it though - love my job. Hate the beurocracy (or is that Autocracy?) which goes with it. hehe.
URC