Research by global talent services company, Morgan McKinley for its 2023 Salary Guide has found 63 per cent of employers in Australia believe that they will lose staff in the first half of 2023 due to higher earning potential in other companies.
Alongside this, 59 per cent of employees in Australia are looking to move jobs in the first half of the year, with 39 per cent citing ‘higher salary’ as their main reason, followed by ‘better career growth and development opportunities’ (15 per cent). The survey revealed that 67 per cent of employers offered higher than expected salaries to attract new employees over the past 12 months. Furthermore, 77 per cent of employers in Australia think that salaries in their specific sector will rise again in 2023, with over a third (36 per cent) planning on increasing base salaries across all teams.
Over two thirds (68 per cent) of businesses plan to hire new permanent, contract or temporary workers in the next six months. Just under half (48 per cent) of Australian employees are expecting their salaries to increase this year, with 33 per cent also expecting some form of bonus payout.
Dominic Bareham, managing director of Morgan McKinley Australia, commented: “Whilst many companies will undoubtedly proceed with a level of caution, we expect the hiring market in Australia to remain buoyant thanks to a strong economy. The appetite to hire top talent shows limited signs of weakening in the future, and professionals are showing a propensity to change roles.
“All businesses in every sector are moving towards setting up processes within a legislative environment that is changing, and requires talent to make it happen smoothly,” he added. “With demand largely outweighing the supply of permanent talent, the hiring of contractors will remain prevalent, particularly for roles across technology, transformation, risk, and projects.
“Generally, salaries increased in 2022 as a result of candidates demanding more and employers responding to secure the talent they need. This was largely driven by the closed borders and large organisations not being able to rely on consultancies to bring in offshore talent, particularly where expertise was required.”
Bareham concluded: “Most companies are acutely aware of it being a candidate driven market in which salary packages can easily become inflated, however they have tried to be firm on not hiking salaries and getting out of step with existing bandings. In many markets where a skills shortage remains, candidate attraction and retention will be key, as will a focus of stability and offering benefits outside of high salaries.”
The Morgan McKinley 2023 Salary Guide presents up-to-date salary data for a wide range of roles across Australia, providing hiring managers with industry benchmarks when they are working out what to pay employees and giving professionals more visibility over what they can earn.
Research from businesses and professionals was conducted to find out what companies’ hiring intentions are for 2023, whether there is an appetite to change jobs, and what the expectations are for movement on salaries.
For the Morgan McKinley Australia 2023 Salary Guide, visit: https://www.morganmckinley.com/au/salary-guide
