Australians are relying on one practice in particular to increase their salaries as the end of financial year approaches, new research has revealed.
Hays Global Managing Director Matthew Dickason says 86 per cent of employers surveyed by the recruitment agency are expected to raise their pay in the next year.
On Wednesday, the leading recruitment agency Hays released its annual salary guide.
“We continue to see pay increase over the next 12 months undoubtedly,” Mr Dickason told Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood.
The month of June is often packed with management meetings, performance reviews and preparation for tax time, which often prompts employees to re-evaluate their workplace benefits and pay.
According to fresh research from specialist recruitment agency Hays, 77 per cent of workers surveyed said they were either looking for a job now or going to in the near future.
The survey received more than 15,000 responses from professionals working across 26 different industries. Picture: Getty
Hayes Global Managing Director Matthew Dickason said there was one driving reason behind this figure.
“71 per cent of them said that is because they are looking for a pay rise,” he told Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood.
“And we know that the best way to get a pay rise is quite often to change jobs and that is what is driving some of the thinking.”
Mr Dickason said the report showed employers were doing their best to accommodate their workers and raised cost of living pressures as an issue at the forefront of their minds.
“So they are trying to do their best for employees,” he said.
Fitzpatrick Advisory Special Counsel Bruce Hawker says the cost of living is “driving” the thinking of Australians at the moment.
According to the latest Newspoll, the Coalition and Labor are polling equal at 50 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
“My view, and I think it’s one that I’ve maintained consistently as well, is that the government has to be dragging down interest rates, and that means attacking inflation,” Mr Hawker told Sky News Australia.
“Until such time as that happens, I think there’s going to be a lot of uncertainty in the polling, and people are going to be concerned that it’s harder and harder for them to make ends meet – that’s an international problem.
“When those interest rates do come down … then I think we’ll get a better indication of where the two parties stand in the eyes of the electorate.
“What’s really driving people’s thinking at the moment is cost of living.”
“But employees recognise the best way to get a pay rise is to look out in the marketplace and we are starting to see that take effect.”
Other new insights to emerge from the report included one sector affected by recent skill shortages and therefore more likely to be offering pay rises to secure staff.
“The areas … defence-related industries are seeing big pay rises and still big skills shortages,” Mr Dickason said.
“There is still significant skills shortages in healthcare, in education, so we will still see probably some above average pay rises in those areas.”
He also said one industry offering very high-paying jobs was rail infrastructure.
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“There’s some interesting things that come out as well, rail infrastructure, some of the highest paying jobs are actually in rail infrastructure, engineers,” he said.
“And you think about the infrastructure build we have got going on across Australia … that comes out in the data.”
A large number of employers surveyed also said there were expecting to or going to raise pay in the next 12 months.
However, this figure of 86 per cent is lower than last year’s high of 95 per cent.