Financial sector wages hike in growing market



By Lauren Ahwan    

Finance and accounting staff are looking forward to more pay in coming months after missing out on wage rises during the global financial crisis.

A recent survey by specialist finance recruitment firm Robert Half has found 60 per cent of Australian bosses are set to increase salaries in the next 12 months. Of those, more than two-thirds are expecting to increase pay by up to 4.4 per cent.

Robert Half reported that 42 per cent of employers in the finance sector introduced wage cuts or freezes, or withdrew bonuses.

Finance Sector Union state executive secretary Debbie Black said a 3.5 per cent increase is the minimum that finance workers should expect, given the last pay rise for the majority of employees was in 2008, before the economic downturn.

Ms Black said many bank staff were also asked to take unpaid leave to ensure long-term job security. She believes many employers over-reacted.

“The global financial crisis was really used as an excuse (not to increase pay last year),” Ms Black says. “We weren’t affected like the Irish banks, or even those in Greece, where whole institutions collapsed.

“Our banks might have taken a small hit but when you see the evidence, they still made profits.

“We consider (pay increases of) anything from 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent would be reasonable given that is effectively only a 2 per cent rise per annum.”

In the wake of the downturn, confidence is now returning. Recent jobs data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows strong growth in the finance sector – an increase of 23,000 in the first quarter of the year.

The survey also shows a third of bosses plan to hire more finance and accounting staff. The majority will be recruited to new positions, not replacing old ones.

Robert Half director Andrew Brushfield says salary is once again becoming a key retention tool but warns a 4.4 per cent increase may not be enough to satisfy workers.

“Many finance and accounting staff have been waiting almost two years for a raise,” he says.

“With inflation expected to peak at 3 per cent, employers can’t expect their workers to be satisfied with only a 4.4 per cent salary increase.

“Based on what we’re seeing, most will be expecting a more significant increase to stay ahead of the market.”

Allen Bolaffi, a partner at UHY Haines Norton Chartered Accountants, is sceptical about the survey findings.

“I think (a) 4.4 (per cent pay increase) is miles too high,” Mr Bolaffi says.

“Across the board, I think it’s going to be closer to (a) three (per cent pay rise).”

Mr Bolaffi says his staff were among those who missed out on a pay rise last year but, to compensate, received non-monetary rewards, such as more entertainment at the company Christmas party and movie outings.

SALARY CAP

Salaries for those employed in the finance sector (before tax):

Accountant: $56,700
Accounting clerks: $37,800
Bank workers: $36,234
Economists: $70,578
Finance managers: $74,520
Financial advisers: $54,000
Financial dealers and brokers: $51,732
Insurance agents: $42,552
Insurance clerks: $40,500
Payroll clerks: $42,012

Source: acpeople.com.au

Article from The Advertiser, July, 2010.