As the mining boom puts further upwards pressure on wages in Western Australia, the state’s workers are enjoying the highest remuneration in the country, according to two surveys released this month.
As the mining boom puts further upwards pressure on wages in Western Australia, the state’s workers are enjoying the highest remuneration in the country, according to two surveys released this month.
International consultancy Hay Group’s survey found WA had the highest average pay in the nation, with average remuneration (including bonuses) being 3 per cent higher than the national average, 4 per cent higher than in NSW and nearly 10 per cent higher than in South Australia.
Another survey, by the Australian Institute of Management, found WA employees in large companies also received the highest annual salary rise in 2006-07, averaging 6.8 per cent, which was above the national average of 4.6 per cent.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm the trend, with WA’s average total weekly earnings for a full-time adult employee in February being the highest of all the states, at $1,199.30.
This exceeds both the national average, of $1,115.90, and NSW’s average of $1,151.80, which was the second highest of the states.
RSM Bird Cameron human resources manager Peter Taylor said salaries had increased significantly at all levels of the organisation, particularly within the past six months.
“We are seeing now that salaries in Perth are generally higher than in Sydney and we’ve never really seen that before,” he said.
Mr Taylor said graduates in WA received higher starting salaries than their counterparts in NSW, with the salary package for a graduate having increased by about 10 per cent in the past 12 months.
While there was pressure to increase salaries, he said, other factors were also being considered.
“We really are focusing a lot on retention strategies, such as bonuses, flexibility, paid parental leave and professional development,” Mr Taylor told WA Business News.
“We’re seeing that salary is only one driver – there are other factors that retain employees.”
Kelly Engineering Services WA branch manager Nikki Chapman said WA’s mining boom had dramatically over-inflated salaries.
“We’ve got clients asking us to re-benchmark salaries, and we’re not talking about $5,000 to $10,000 – it’s more like $20,000 to $40,000,” she told WA Business News.
“That’s a massive margin to comprehend for companies.”
Ms Chapman said salary packages for on-site mining workers, which included allowances for living away from home and meals, had placed inflationary pressure on salaries for Perth-based employees.
“Companies, especially in the middle of the city, are having to re-jig how they think in terms of bonuses based on key performance indicators, performance-based incentives and strategies to attract and retain staff,” she said.
Gerard Daniels mining division managing consultant, Paul Howard, said organisations with rigid salary bands, which were typically large companies, were especially likely to experience stress in the current market, due to their inflexibility.
“They may bring a person in at a certain (higher) salary level, which causes a misalignment with the person and the organisation,” he said.
“As the market moves swiftly, these organisations are less able to keep up, so that can be a barrier to recruiting talent.”
