More than one-in-three financial institutions are planning pay increases for staff within the next six months, a survey of human resources managers claims.
The latest Robert Walters Australian Hiring Intensions Survey revealed that 36 per cent of Australian businesses are planning to increase wages, with 37 per cent of banks and financial institutions saying they will boost the salaries of their staff.
Results from the survey also revealed that 22 per cent of recruitment managers in the financial services sector said they expected to create new jobs in the second half of 2014, while the average across all sectors was 34 per cent.
Robert Walters managing director of Australia and New Zealand, James Nicholson, said the results showed that a small number of recruitment managers were planning to use increased salaries as a bait to attract and retain the best staff.
“The current environment is still cautious, and so organisations have been mainly hiring replacement staff instead of increasing headcounts,” he said.
“However, after a significant period in the same roles, candidates have been more willing to take risks and seek new opportunities, and a significant minority of hiring managers are planning to increase wages to lure top talent.”
Across a range of industries, the survey found that “the general sentiment was fairly positive”, with just nine per cent of participants saying they were planning to downsize in the next six months.
