Advertised salaries in New Zealand grew by 4.4 percent in the year to February 2023, according to new data released by SEEK.
SEEK launched its new Advertised Salary Index (ASI) on Thursday. The ASI measures the growth in advertised salaries for jobs posted on its website in New Zealand.
It shows advertised salaries are growing at a solid pace, up 4.4 percent in the year to the February quarter 2023. This is the second-fastest growth rate recorded since the data started being collected in 2016.
The fastest growth recorded was in the year to November 2021, when advertised salaries rose by 4.6 percent. Advertised salary growth has picked up considerably since the 2.7 percent recorded in the year to February 2020, the year before the COVID pandemic.
Advertised salaries were up 0.9 percent in the quarter to February. This represents a slight slowing of the quarter-on-quarter growth rates from 1.1 percent in November and 1.2 percent in August 2022.
The data revealed the middle of the advertised salary ranges across the SEEK website was $78,703 in February 2023.
Although advertised salary growth is the second fastest on record, it is still lagging behind inflation.
The country is grappling with stubbornly high inflation, sitting at 7.2 percent for the past two quarters. It's down ever so slightly from its peak of 7.3 percent in the June 2022 quarter but still well above the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's mandate of 1 to 3 percent.
High inflation coupled with rising wages has prompted concerns the two will play into each other and spiral out of control.
But the new ASI data suggests, for now, this isn't happening, SEEK senior economist Matt Cowgill said.
Advertised salary growth has however picked up further and faster than overall wage growth, as measured by Statistic NZ Labour Cost Index (LCI). The LCI measures the change in overall wages for all jobs, whereas the ASI measures the change in advertised salaries for vacant roles, which tends to respond more quickly to changes in market conditions.
The relatively rapid growth in advertised salary growth suggests overall wage growth may continue to pick up in New Zealand, Cowgill said.
SEEK NZ country manager Rob Clark said the ASI figures also show the lowest-paid jobs have experienced the most rapid rise, and the highest paid the slowest. Clark said this is partly due to minimum wage increases, but also because of strong demand for workers in sectors such as hospitality and tourism.
"Advertised salaries in New Zealand are growing at their fastest pace on record, but they’re still lagging the cost of living," Clark said.
"Advertised salary growth has been solid across the country, with the exception of Wellington where growth has been more modest.
"The competition for talent in industries like hospitality and tourism is pushing up advertised salaries, particularly for lower-paid roles."
Advertised salary growth by industry
Advertised salary growth has been particularly rapid in advertising, arts and media which rose 11 percent in the year to February 2023.
Design and architecture also saw strong growth up 8.8 percent in the same time period, along with hospitality and tourism which grew 6.8 percent.
The industry with the lowest growth was marketing and communications which rose just 0.1 percent, followed by legal up 0.9 percent and education and training and sports and recreation which were both up 1.2 percent.
The industry with the highest average advertised salary was consulting and strategy, sitting at $112,457, followed by information and communication technology at $111,737 and mining, resources and energy at $102,233.
The industry with the lowest average advertised salary was retail and consumer products at $52,603, followed by hospitality and tourism at $54,562 and call centre and customer service at $57,115.
Midpoint range for advertised salary by industry:
Consulting & Strategy - $112,457
Information & Communication Technology - $111,737
Mining, Resources & Energy - $102,233
Government & Defence - $101,864
Legal - $100,559
Engineering - $99,764
Banking & Financial Services - $99,457
Construction - $98,137
Human Resources & Recruitment - $96,108
Design & Architecture - $90,112
Accounting - $88,858
Marketing & Communications - $88,087
Real Estate & Property - $87,540
Insurance & Superannuation - $83,636
Sales - $83,435
Science & Technology - $80,100
Healthcare & Medical - $79,532
Advertising, Arts & Media - $75,305
Education & Training - $69,512
Trades & Services - $64,202
Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics - $63,258
Community Services & Development - $61,789
Sport & Recreation - $59,853
Administration & Office Support - $59,646
Call Centre & Customer Service - $57,115
Hospitality & Tourism - $54,562
Retail & Consumer Products - $52,603
Advertised salary growth by region
Clark said Aotearoa is experiencing a "multi-speed economy" with some industries seeing rapid growth while others lag.
Of the five regions the data was broken up into, Auckland had the most rapid growth up 5.4 percent in the year to February 2023.
Canterbury had the next strongest growth at 4.7 percent followed by the rest of the North Island at 4.5 percent, and the rest of the South Island at 4.3 percent.
Wellington, meanwhile, lagged behind growing just 3.3 percent in the same time period.
"When it comes to advertised salary growth. Some industries, such as advertising, arts and media are seeing very rapid growth in advertised salaries, while others (such as marketing and communications) are barely growing," Clark said.
"Advertised salary growth for Government [jobs] has been relatively modest, which explains why Wellington lags behind other parts of New Zealand."
Salary growth strongest for the lowest-paid
The lowest-paid jobs have experienced the most rapid advertised salary growth up 15.7 percent Since February 2020.
The second lowest-paid jobs saw the second biggest increase up 11.1 percent followed by the second highest-paid jobs - up 10.9 percent. Middle-pay band jobs were next up 6.1 percent and the smallest increase was for the highest-paid job band which was up 5.3 percent over the same period.
Clark said a tight employment market and strong demand for workers are partly responsible for the growth in the lowest-paid jobs.
"During the pandemic, demand for workers has been strong across the board. It has been strongest for a range of customer-facing roles, many of which are typically lower paid, such as roles in hospitality and tourism.
"This strong demand for workers in relatively low-paid roles has pushed up advertised salaries for roles at the lower end of the pay scale," he said.
