The workers who are raking in Australia’s biggest pay rises

Australia’s lowest-paid workers who serve drinks and take orders in restaurants get the biggest pay raises from their bosses, new data shows.

Hospitality staff in the accommodation and food service sector enjoyed a pay increase of 7.7 per cent in the December quarter, new business indicators data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Monday showed.

The labor shortage meant that bartenders and servers saw wage increases well above the 2.6 percent quarterly increase for all private sector workers, based on company personnel and operating costs.

Separate data from Seek showed that trades and service jobs, a broad category covering occupations from electricians to air conditioning technicians, also saw a significant annual wage increase of 6.3 percent, followed by design and architecture with 6.2 percent and manufacturing, transportation and logistics workers. at 5.8 percent.

But those numbers indicated that those who really want a decent pay raise really needed to change jobs, as wage increases failed to keep pace with skyrocketing inflation.

Advertised wages in the year to January rose 4.4 percent, a level well above last year’s official wage price index of 3.3 percent, but well below the inflation rate of 7.8 percent, the worst since 1990.

Seek senior economist Matt Cowgill said wage increases are more likely to have peaked, making a wage-price spiral less likely.

“Announced wage growth remains strong, but there are signs that we may have peaked,” he said.

“Although announced wage growth remains strong, at 4.4 percent it is still well below the 7.75 percent inflation rate.

“That means actual announced wages, adjusted for inflation, are falling, adding to the lower cost of living for Australian workers.”

Australians struggling with the cost of living crisis are advised to look for a new job.

“Advertised salaries continue to grow faster than overall wages and salaries, suggesting that employers are still in a bidding war for talent and therefore changing jobs is still a good way to get a pay raise. for those who feel pressured,” Cowgill said.

Belinda Allen, a senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank, said business wages had grown strongly in sectors recovering from earlier shutdowns.

“The strongest gains were in sectors still recovering from Covid restrictions and those where consumers spent during the second half of 2022,” he said.

These low-paid hospitality employees also had a 5.2 percent increase in their minimum wage on Oct. 1, which at the time was slightly above the annual inflation increase for the June quarter.

Companies in this sector enjoyed a quarterly gross operating profit increase of 19.8 percent, much higher than the economy-wide average of 10.6 percent, ABS data showed.

This was despite the fact that the minimum wage increased by the largest margin since 2006.

When it comes to jobs advertised, the Seek data showed that hospitality and tourism jobs had seen a 4.2 percent pay increase, a level below the ABS measure of company wage bills and the average search for jobs advertised.

Service sector workers employed in restaurants, bars and hotels still earn below average income.

His median full-time salary of $67,277.60 is the lowest among the broader sectors grouped by ABS and well below the $94,000 median level across all industries.

But they’re also doing much better than other low-paid workers, based on average weekly earnings.

Retail workers saw their minimum wage increase on July 1, but had wage increases of just 3.3 percent in the December quarter, as measured by ABS.

However, advertised retail jobs had a 4.9 percent annual wage increase.

The median full-time salary for store clerks is $70,397.60, making it the second lowest on the ABS league table.

Arts and recreation had a healthy 7.4 percent increase in wages and salaries, but the median full-time salary of $85,654.40 is on the lower side.

Technology-oriented jobs are receiving the weakest wage increases, with information and communications technology wages rising just 3.5 percent, a level well below Seek’s average.

Science and technology jobs saw an announced wage increase of just 0.8 percent.

Mining has Australia’s highest average wage of $146,208.40, with the sector enjoying an 11.6 per cent increase in profits.

But advertised salaries rose 4.4 percent, in line with Seek’s average.

The Seek data covered January, when the jobless rate rose to 3.7 percent, from a 48-year low of 3.5 percent in December.