HR professionals seeing 'sluggish' growth in advertised wages
Wage growth may be "nearing a peak" in New Zealand, according to SEEK NZ, despite advertised salaries registering its fastest annual growth on record.
Advertised salaries expanded by 4.7% in the year to the May 2023 quarter, according to the SEEK NZ Advertised Salary Index (ASI) that was released this week.
However, the index also found that quarter-on-quarter growth was at one per cent, continuing a downward quarterly trend since peaking in May 2022.
This is an indication that salary growth may be starting to cool down, according to SEEK NZ Country Manager Rob Clark.
"Although the year-on-year growth in advertised salaries is the fastest on record, we do see signs that salaries are starting to cool," he said in a media release. "The ASI is a leading indicator of overall wages growth, which suggests wages growth may be nearing a peak in New Zealand."
HR sees 'sluggish' salary growth
By industry, the Human Resources and Recruitment industry fell behind the others when it comes to advertised salary growth with only a 2.5% annual increase.
"Several white-collar professional industries have experienced sluggish growth in advertised salaries, including Marketing & Communications (1.9%), Human Resources & Recruitment (2.5%) and Banking & Financial Services (2.7%)," SEEK NZ said.
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According to SEEK NZ, these industries have been affected by the slowdown in economic activity as interest rates rise. They were also less affected by the minimum wage hikes than other industries.
On the other hand, the strongest advertised salary growth was reported in the Advertising, Arts, and Media sector with seven per cent. This is followed by a range of industries related to home building, including:
- Design and architecture (6.7%)
- Engineering (6.7%)
- Construction (6.6%)
'Solid' regional growth, but not enough
Per region, advertised salaries are "growing at a solid pace in every part of New Zealand," according to the ASI.
Canterbury recorded the fastest annual growth with 5.4%, followed by the South Island outside of Canterbury with 5.1%. Auckland recorded a 4.9% growth, while the rest of the North Island registered 4.7%.
"Wellington (4.2%) continued to lag other parts of the country, driven in part by slow advertised salary growth for Government roles, but the gap between Wellington and elsewhere has shrunk," SEEK NZ said.
Despite the strong national growth, however, Clark pointed out that they remained behind annual inflation.
"Advertised salary growth has been strong in every part of New Zealand – but still lags behind the cost of living – with the Consumer Price Index at 6.7% in March 2023," Clark said.