Western Australian engineers enjoyed bigger pay rises last year than their interstate counterparts and are now the best paid in the country, a new survey has found.
The Ambit Engineering salary index found engineering salaries in Western Australia increased by an average 8.7 per cent in the year to September, compared with 3 per cent nationally.
“The boom in resources and the resultant flow-on effect into other sectors has had a dramatic impact on engineering salaries in this State,” Ambit’s WA manager Adrian Duckett said.
The survey found the mining, materials handling, minerals processing and construction sectors had the biggest growth.
Construction managers in the offshore oil and gas industry were currently being paid between $90 and $120 an hour, the highest rate of any sector.
Skilled Engineering’s general manager WA Chris Chalwell said the rapid growth in WA salaries generally was in line with his own experience.
Mr Chalwell said expansion projects in the iron ore industry were one of the key drivers of demand.