Closing salary expectation gap between candidates/employers

August 6th 2013

Good communication is needed to close the salary expectation gap between candidates and employers in New Zealand

Despite a conservative salary outlook, more than one in five (23 per cent) candidates in New Zealand expects to receive a salary increase of more than 6 per cent in the current pay review period yet only 4 per cent of New Zealand employers plan to offer increases at that level, according to research carried out by recruiting experts Hays.

The annual Hays Salary Guide asked more than 1600 employers about their salary intentions for the current pay review period. Overall, a sizable 76 per cent plan to award salary increases of nil to 3 per cent while 20 per cent intend to award pay increases of 3 to 6 per cent.

Of the 352 New Zealand candidates taking part in a recent Hays online poll on salary expectations, 53 per cent expect to see a pay increase of nil to 3 per cent while 24 per cent expect an increase of between 3 and 6 per cent.

“Employers are looking to maintain costs where possible,” explains Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.

“For candidates this means looking at the opportunity for professional growth offered by a potential employer and not just the salary. This will help you position for promotion once inside the organisation to command greater salary increases down the track,” says Jason.

“The potential for salary increases moves up and down as economic conditions change so it is important not to overreact to salary trends particularly if you have not been job hunting since the salary market was strong in your sector.

“Employers also need to tread carefully in this market and ensure they are selling the full range of the benefits they offer employees when they are interviewing job candidates.

“Open and honest communication with existing and potential employees regarding salaries and benefits is very important to help bridge the gap in pay expectations,” said Jason.

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays
Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. We are the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in Asia Pacific and the UK and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

Hays employs 7,800 staff operating from 245 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2012, Hays reported net fees of £734 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £128 million. Hays placed around 55,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 182,000 people into temporary assignments. 33% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific.

Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.

ENDS

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