Mining, energy sector underpins 5% growth in NZ pay packets

Mining, energy sector underpins 5% growth in NZ pay packets in 2011, SEEK says

By Hannah Lynch

Jan. 9 (BusinessDesk) – A jump in salaries offered in the mining, resource and energy sectors underpinned a 5 percent national increase in the average pay packet offered by employers using online job website Seek last year.

Roles in mining, resource and energy sector showed the biggest increase, up almost 18 percent in the eleven months to November, for a national salary average of $118,629, Seek said in a statement. That helped the average salary offered across all regions and sectors rise 5 percent to $73,530.

“The mining, resource and energy sector currently boosts New Zealand’s highest average annual salary and we saw a marked increase in available roles in the industry in 2011,” said Janet Faulding, general manager at Seek. “There is a concentration of roles in this sector both on the West Coast and Taranaki and this is having a positive impact on salaries in these regions.”

That boost came in the months after the Pike River Coal mine explosions that killed 29 miners and scuppered the project for the forseeable future, and also includes the approval for Bathurst Resources to pursue its open-cast mining plans above Westport.

New Zealand’s highest pay packets are not confined to the main centers with both the West Coast and Taranaki recording annual salaries above the national average, two resource-rich areas.

Jobs in advertising, arts and media were the second-biggest gainer in the 11-month period, up 16 percent to an average salary of $70,429.

In Auckland, the average salary rose six percent from January to November to $75,533, while in Wellington it increased $2,825 to $78,952.

The national increase in salaries advertised on Seek outpaced the 3.2 percent annual increase in average ordinary hourly wage to $26.53 by the end of September, according to government data. On a 40-hour working week, that equates to $55,182, or one-third below the average advertised salary on Seek.

(BusinessDesk)

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