SALARY SURVEY 2010
AUSTRALIA
Momentum expected to pick up in 2010, with candidate shortages set to return
in some areas.
With levels of employment still relatively high across Australia, increased
packages will need to be offered to attract the best talent.
Due to increasing demand for candidates, employers will need to source
international candidates in 2010 to fill talent-gaps in the local market.
Global recruitment consultancy Robert Walters this week launched its eleventh annual Global
Salary Survey, with the year 2009 seen as two distinct halves in terms of recruitment trends.
The first half of the year saw many companies in Australia continue to implement the cost-
cutting strategies that began in late 2008. A large number carried out redundancies and
reduced employees’ remuneration packages in a bid to lessen the impact of the financial
markets’ downturn on their bottom line. Some firms took the opportunity to hire top-tier
professionals whilst their counterparts were downsizing, to upgrade the talent within their firm
ahead of the anticipated economic recovery. In the second half of 2009, confidence began to
return to the economy with many firms realising they had ‘cut too deep’ and were unable to
operate businesses effectively on reduced levels of headcount.
James Nicholson, Managing Director of Robert Walters Australia, commented: “Financial
services firms appeared to recover sooner than commercial businesses, particularly those
with less exposure to international markets. Salaries that stayed flat or fell in 2009 are
expected to rise in 2010 at least in line with CPI and we have already seen bonuses return in
some areas.”
“Whilst some firms will need to adopt aggressive recruitment strategies to cope with increased
workloads as a result of the improved economic conditions, we expect that a large portion of
the recruitment mandates received in the first half of 2010 will be a direct result of employee
turnover as candidate confidence increases and professionals actively seek out new
employment opportunities.”
“If the economy continues to recover at the current rate, skills shortages will be prevalent
across a number of sectors including Finance and IT by the end of 2010. With Australia
already reaching near full employment (with ABS unemployment figures at 5.3% in January
2010) it is likely that employers will need to source international candidates to fill talent-gaps
in the Australian market as well as training and developing their own staff.”
“In 2010, organisations will need to ensure they focus on employee engagement, implement
strong staff retention strategies and carefully consider pay increments and bonuses in order
to attract and retain top-tier staff.” Nicholson concludes.
For more information, please contact:
Frances Denny, Marketing Manager
Tel. +61 (0)2 8289 3114
Robert Walters is an international recruitment business with significant operations in Australia,
New Zealand, Asia and the UK and Europe. Its Global Salary Survey, which is considered the
most comprehensive of its type in the world, is now in its 11th year.
The Robert Walters Salary Survey provides an in-depth analysis of salaries earned around
the world by both permanent and contract workers across a wide range of sectors: accounting
& finance, banking, HR, IT, legal, mining, engineering & operations, risk management,
compliance & audit, sales, marketing & communications and secretarial & business support. It
also provides an insight into the recruitment trends experienced in those areas.
Salary figures are based on the thousands of placements made by Robert Walters’
recruitment staff throughout the year, while additional market insights are provided by teams
and managers specialising in each sector, to give added insight into past and future trends in
local candidate markets.
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