Financial services report wage cuts despite job retention

There was an 8.9% decline in total wages in the financial services and insurance sector between 28 March and 4 April, one of the highest changes across industry sectors.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), total wages in that sector fell by 8.9% compared to an industry average decline of 5.1% across 18 different sectors. This was a significant decline on the previous week, the ABS said, when wages only declined by an average of 1.3%.

This put financial services and insurance in the top 20% behind accommodation and food services at 17.7%, professional, scientific and technical services at 9.7% and arts and recreation services at 9.1%. 

Between 14 March, when Australia reported its first COVID-19 case, and 4 April, there had been a 7.8% decline in total wages in financial services and insurance.

However, there had only been a 3.2% change in employee jobs during the same period, one of the lowest across the sectors.

This compared to a 25% change in accommodation and food services and 18.7% for arts and recreation services, both sectors significantly impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions which had led to closures and job losses.