Mining and metals, high tech, and logistics were among the industries delivering big hikes, with one-third of employees in mining and metals hitting the jackpot.
Across the board, Australian employers raised base salaries by 4% for existing employees in 2023. And that level is forecast to remain the same in the year ahead, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Survey.
Mercer’s workforce solutions leader for the Pacific region, Cynthia Cottrell, said the generous salary increases were likely a deliberate retention strategy.
“Retention is a primary focus for Australian organisations, which recorded their highest employee turnover rate in more than five years in 2022, at 21.4%. We expect to see similar results in 2023,” Ms Cottrell said.
“This surge in employee mobility could be attributed to a range of factors including inflation and cost of living pressures, ongoing low unemployment rates, and the trend towards the ‘post-pandemic career rethink’. Consequently, organisations are turning to remuneration as a way to retain top talent.”
The survey revealed the most difficult roles to fill and retain were in:
- sales, marketing, and product management
- engineering and science
- IT, telecom and internet;
- and production and skilled trades.
As a result, some jobs received exponentially greater salary increases – including entry-level project engineering at 19% and market research and analysis professionals at 13.8%.
While remuneration is a driving factor for attracting and retaining employees, Ms Cottrell said organisations should think holistically – and innovatively – about how to address the war for talent and fill in-demand jobs.
“In Australia’s tight labour market, traditional talent models won’t cut it. There is simply not the supply to meet the demand,” Ms Cottrell said.
“And, we know that for most employees, it’s never been all about the money. With record numbers of people changing jobs, are you giving your talent a meaningful reason to stay, or new hires a reason to join?”
Ms Cottrell suggested a skills-powered model could be the answer.
“In today’s competitive environment, I’d urge organisations to foster a skills-first mindset. We need to move away from this legacy perception that you can only fill a role by hiring or redeploying someone with like-for-like experience. Resetting the work operating system around skills, not jobs, opens up a powerful new way of thinking about work and talent – both for the organisation and for its people,” she said.
The Total Remuneration Survey (TRS) is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive sources of compensation and benefits market data. Representing a broad range of industries, it delivers insights on pay for employees across all skill levels and career streams. More than 1200 organisations participated in the survey.
