Kiwi wage increase

6 August 2008 

Average salaries in New Zealand have increased substantially, according to new analysis.

Employers are finding it easier to attract staff and average salaries in New Zealand have increased substantially, according to the analysis of 73,000 jobs listed on Trade Me Jobs in the first half of 2008.

“Since the last quarter of 2007, we have seen the average salary increase 3.7% from $55,583 (£20,818) to $57,664 (£21,597),” said Trade Me Jobs head, Jimmy McGee. “The labour market has definitely eased, with applications per job up 8% over that period. However, wage inflation was strong,’’ he said.

IT continues to dominate the highest paid professions with IT architects, project managers and functional consultants, all averaging pay rates over $100,000 (£37,453).

“Outside of IT, the top five paid professions are doctors ($106,823), construction project managers ($95,378), engineering managers ($92,843), in-house legal counsel ($90,440) and financial controllers ($89,081),” said Mr McGee.

Wellington remains the highest paid location, buoyed by the large number of public servants and service companies, followed by Auckland and new entrant New Plymouth. Regional and secondary urban areas such as Central Hawke’s Bay and Timaru saw the greatest salary softening. Selwyn was the worst paid region with an average wage rate of $37,047, followed by Waimakariri $38,321 and Waipa $39,531.

Mr McGee said, “We are seeing two distinct trends at present. Pay rates for unskilled and semi-skilled are flat, while pay rates for mid-level earners and the highly skilled are increasing at rates above the national average.”

The biggest increase in job vacancies were accountants, travel consultants, construction site managers and accounts payable workers.

The greatest tightening was in environmental engineers, waste and water engineers, tertiary educators and doctors.