The industries with the biggest salary jumps in the past year

A tight talent pool is helping to drive wages up as businesses compete for employees.

Recruitment firm Hays’ latest research found 95% of employers planned to increase salaries this year. Further, 66% plan to increase salaries more than 3%– a big step up from 37% last year and 12% the year prior.

The Hays Salary Guide FY23/24 survey received 14,295 responses across Australia and New Zealand. This included responses from 6903 organisations.

But many employees said they felt undervalued and underpaid. Only 28% were satisfied with their current salary. Most (71%) said it did not reflect their individual performance. Two-thirds said their pay did not align with typical salaries elsewhere.

The factors driving salary increases this year included competition amid the skill shortage, the impact of pay transparency and employees being prepared to ask for a raise.

”As employers compete in a tight talent pool, we’re seeing a significant surge in salaries, with both the number of increases and their value continuing the upward trajectory we first noted in last year’s Hays Salary Guide,” Hays chief executive Asia Pacific Matthew Dickason said.

So what industries have seen the biggest salary increases in the past year?

Marketing and digital

There have been large jumps in salary across the board in the digital, marketing and communications sector.

In digital, the typical annual salary for an ecommerce specialist country-wide jumped from $78,000 to $90,000, while a digital marketing manager jumped from $109,000 to $130,000.

The salary for a digital channel manager was now $130,000 up from $99,000, for a social media co-ordinator it was now $70,000 up from $54,000 and a social media executive was now typically on $85,000, up from $64,000.

Within marketing a graphic designer’s typical salary increased from $76,000 to $85,000.

Meanwhile, a bid coordinator and research executive/marketing analyst was being paid $9000 more than this time last year.

A communication adviser’s typical salary increased from $76,000 to $100,000, while a communications manager jumped from $114,000 to $140,000.

The biggest jumps within public relations (PR) were a $22,000 increase for a media relations manager, a $25,000 lift for a director of communications and a $20,000 increase for an executive director of communication, whose typical salary was now $240,000.

Legal

The typical salary for a paralegal, graduate and lawyers with post-admission experience increased at both small, mid-tier and top-tier practices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Depending on experience, lawyers had an increase of $5000 to $10,000 at a small firm, while special counsel, salaried partner and equity partner all had $10,000 increases.

The increases were similar at mid-tier and top-tier firms.

Technology

Technology has always been one of the highest-paying industries, particularly in Wellington.

Within infrastructure, a service desk level one role had a $10,000 increase in Auckland, a $5000 increase in Christchurch but failed to move in Wellington, which was already $5000 ahead of the cities last year.

In Auckland and Christchurch the pay for a network administrator/engineer increased by $20,000 but in Wellington it only increased by $10,000. Auckland and Wellington were now both on $110,000 but Christchurch was on $100,000.

In Christchurch, a product manager jumped from $110,000 to $120,000, the same as Auckland and Wellington. A senior project manager and PMO manager in Christchurch also had a $10,000 increase to keep up with Auckland and Wellington salaries.

A project scheduler in Christchurch was now paid $20,000 more but Auckland remained at the same salary.

Across all three cities a typical enterprise architect salary increased by $10,000.

Within software development a development manager’s typical pay increased by $20,000 in Wellington and Christchurch but remained the same in Auckland. Yet Christchurch pay was still significantly behind the other cities at only $50,000, while Auckland and Wellington were $175,000 and $180,000 respectively.

Cloud engineers and architects also had big pay rises with typical salaries increasing up to $20,000 and most roles within cybersecurity increased by $5000 to $10,000.

Sales

Despite sales having next to no salary increases in the past year, salaries for a national sales manager and director of sales jumped in both Wellington and Christchurch to catch up with high Auckland salaries.

A national sales manager in Wellington went from $131,000 to $140,000 while in Christchurch it went from $112,000 to $130,000. Auckland had an increase of $1000 to $150,000.

Meanwhile, a director of sales in Wellington went from $159,000 to $180,000 and Christchurch went from $143,000 to $160,000. Auckland went from $197,000 to $200,000.