Hays Salary Guide: Salaries hold steady with increases on the horizon

Almost half (47 per cent) of all employers expect to increase salaries by between three and six per cent in their next review. That’s one of several key findings from the annual Hays Salary Guide, released tomorrow, that herald an optimistic year ahead.

The Hays Salary Guide includes recruiting trends and typical salaries for over 900 job functions, in 20 sectors and in 12 locations across Australia and New Zealand.

It reveals that workers in the mining & resources sector are in for the greatest windfall, with 54 per cent of employers in this sector expecting to increase salaries by between three and six per cent and 18 per cent of employers expecting to increase salaries above six per cent.  This is closely followed by professional services, where 54 per cent of employers expect to increase salaries by between three and six per cent, and 10 per cent expect to increase above six per cent.

According to the Hays Salary Guide, hiring intentions are also up. While last year only 21 per cent of employers expected to increase their permanent headcount, this year 45 per cent expect to do so. Engineering professionals will be the hottest commodity, with 60 per cent of engineering departments expecting to increase their headcount.  This is followed by the purchasing department (57 per cent), operations (50 per cent) and human resources (48 per cent).

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This year, 22 per cent of employers intend to increase their use of temporary workers, compared to 14 per cent last year. Again this growth will be highest in engineering departments (where 37 per cent intend to increase their use of temporary workers), followed by sales (29 per cent).

In other findings, 67 per cent of employers believe the economy will strengthen in the coming six to 12 months, compared to just 6 per cent last year. Consumer confidence still has the most significant impact on business activity. The use of counter offers remains unchanged, with 39 per cent of employers indicating they ‘sometimes’ use this strategy to attempt to retain resigning staff.

Commenting on the Hays Salary Guide, Nigel Heap, Managing Director of Hays Asia Pacific, said: “The Hays Salary Guide shows that for the most part salaries remained constant during the past year. Employers had more control of salaries and candidates were more focused on job security than salary.

“Of course there were exceptions, with some companies offering lucrative salaries to attract top talent and aid staff retention. Others were more flexible with their salary packages.

“Today however quality candidates are in a much stronger position than they were a year ago. Those who sat tight during the GFC are now pursing career development.  Those who can add value are seeking salaries above their current level, as are those who accepted lower salaries during the downturn.

“Add the new optimism that is evident in the market and employers’ own prediction that their permanent and temporary recruiting needs will rise, and we have a very different picture to this time last year.

“As a result, salaries will start to creep up over the next 12 months as the war for talent returns.

“But jobseekers shouldn’t expect an automatic or hefty salary increase. We still advise jobseekers to focus on finding a role that will add to your suite of skills and will offer opportunity with the right organisation. Moving roles at this stage can provide the opportunity to join an up-and-coming employer or a company that is emerging from the GFC in a strong position.  But don’t price yourself out of contention with over-inflated salary expectations.

“If you are realistic in your expectations, show how you can add value and take the advice of a recruiting expert, a salary increase is likely to follow over the coming year in line with the market’s renewed optimism,” he said.

The Hays Salary Guide is available from 1 June 2010 at www.hays.com.au/salary and www.hays.net.nz/salary

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays

Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. It is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide. It operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

Hays employs 6,933 staff operating from 345 offices in 28 countries across 17 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2009, Hays placed around 50,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 270,000 people into temporary assignments.