The Morgan McKinley 2020 Salary Guide has been published, offering remuneration and recruitment insights and salary figures from the past 12 months. The salary guide covers strategy & innovation, analytics, accounting & finance, IT, risk & compliance, government and IT & business transformation in Australia.
The report finds that 2019 saw many changes:
The release of the Royal Commission findings, changes to IFRS 9, a State election and a Federal election.
The Royal Commission not only tipped the finance sector on its head, but significant ripples were felt throughout the wider Australian economy. It wasn’t all bad news, however, says the repott, as the demand for regulatory, risk, remediation and compliance professionals peaked significantly across both permanent and contract roles, as organisations rearranged their budgets and shifted their focus. The State and Federal elections also caused the economy to push the “pause” and “rearrange” buttons, but only for a short time.
Many of the organisations Morgan McKinley partners with have started putting more focus on creating equality and diversity across their teams, with the number of females being employed on the rise. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of moving the dial, particularly in the more male-dominated areas of project management, data analytics and technology.
2019 once again highlighted that the power of choice had indeed shifted to the job seeker.
Professionals were looking for roles in sectors outside of their expertise and experience to further broaden their skill sets. The company predict that this candidate-driven trend and the competition across key role types will cause hiring managers to consider talent from a diverse background in 2020.
While each industry and sector has its own checklist of required skills for the role, the one skill that appears to be at the top of every hiring manager’s list is “the ability to communicate what is happening in your area, and deliver the key insights to stakeholders”. Candidates that possess a combination of strong technical skills and the ability to partner with the business are ‘hot property’ in today’s hiring market.
In this VUCA world, there is a business imperative to continuously adapt and evolve. To allow organisations to do this, it is critical that they bring in individuals with a more agile way or working and the ability to work across cross-functional teams to enable the business to be competitive.
In saying all that, the need for extra benefits from candidates is not going away anytime soon. Organisations across the board will still need to continue to incorporate employee benefits such as flexible working arrangements and competitive parental leave, both of which are starting to become the norm across the market.
Some organisations have introduced new initiatives such as onsite all-day catering and childcare services to attract and retain the best talent.
Technology continues to shake up the market, evolving at a faster rate than ever before, meaning that systems and infrastructure are becoming outdated much more quickly. Automation was a hot buzzword in 2019, and will no doubt become a key aspect of the workplace of 2020 and beyond.
Finally, data continues to be “the world’s most valuable resource”, as recognised by industry leaders across the board. More and more organisations are incorporating data into the overall business unit. However, those that can streamline the process between data acquisition and data strategy for commercial outcomes and customer satisfaction will be the ones that come out on top.
