The jobs where salaries almost keep pace with inflation – so would you switch careers?
- Advertised tradie salaries up 6.7 percent
- This is the closest thing to an inflation rate of 7 percent
Traditions are more likely to see a pay rise to keep pace with inflation as Australians battle the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Data from job site Seek showed that the trade and services sector saw 6.7 percent more advertised salaries in the year to April.
This is still below the inflation rate of 7 percent, which represents a 0.3 percent reduction in real wages.
The median salary of $74,615 for trades and services – a broad category that includes plumbers and laborers – is still well below the average Australian full-time salary of $94,000.
Across all industries, advertised salaries rose 4.8 percent in the year to April.
This was much better than the 3.7 percent increase in the official wage price index for the year to March, suggesting that workers need to change jobs to get a better pay rise – even though wage increases are the strongest since 2012.
Traditions are more likely to see a pay rise to keep pace with inflation as Australians battle the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation (pictured Melbourne stair builder Paige Hunter)
But Seek’s senior economist, Matt Cowgill, said most workers who got big pay raises, even with a new job, still suffered real pay cuts because salaries didn’t keep up with inflation.
“Advertised salary growth remains strong, but not accelerating,” he said.
“We don’t see a price-wage spiral, with advertised salaries continuing to rise in response to higher inflation.
“Advertised salary growth still lags far behind the rising cost of living, but the gap is narrowing.”
While Australia’s unemployment rate was still low at 3.7 percent last month, almost every sector of the 27 listed by Seek saw annual increases in advertised salaries.
Data from job site Seek showed that the trade and services sector saw 6.7 percent more advertised salaries in the year to April. This is still below the inflation rate of 7 percent, but the reduction in real wages is only 0.3 percent (pictured is a Woolworths shopper in Sydney)
Advertising, art and media were the exception with a 0.1 percent decline as higher interest rates depressed consumer demand.
Journalists typically earn only $65,000, but media executives in government departments or large corporations can earn an average salary of $125,000, data from Seek showed.
Government jobs had a small one percent increase in advertised wages.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ wage price index for the March quarter showed that public sector workers had a smaller annual wage increase of 3 percent, compared to 3.8 percent for private sector workers.
The new Labor government in New South Wales is scrapping the 2.5 per cent pay cap in the public sector, while Victoria is also reviewing the stricter 1.5 per cent cap.
NSW public sector jobs have an average salary of $75,000, with many of the positions listed on Seek for customer service.
Australia’s lowest paid continue to battle high inflation, with advertised retail wages rising 5.8 per cent after receiving a 5.2 per cent minimum wage increase in July last year that pushed annual wages to $42,255.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions is pushing for a seven percent increase in the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation.
While Australia’s unemployment rate was still low at 3.7 percent last month, almost every sector of the 27 listed by Seek saw annual increases in advertised salaries
