Revealed: professionals with the highest salary growth and those in decline

Recruitment firm Hays' Salary Guide for FY25/26 shows that while certain professions are enjoying eye-watering pay rises, other professions face wage stagnation.

Hays surveyed more than 12,000 professionals and hiring managers across 1000 roles and 25 sectors.

Hays Asia Pacific CEO Matthew Dickason said "it's no longer enough to cite skills shortages."

"Unless those shortages are matched with real salary action that aligns with expectations and industry benchmarks, talent will move where the opportunities are."

Engineers reported the highest pay satisfaction of all professions.

Thirty-eight per cent say they are 'fairly' paid and six per cent say they are overpaid.

Accountants and auditors came in next with 33 per cent saying they are 'fairly' paid, and three per cent indicating they are overpaid, according to the report.

By contrast, architecture and design professionals were the most dissatisfied with pay conditions.

Sixty-one per cent say they plan to change jobs in the next six months, one of the highest potential job shifts in the sector.

Trade workers (manual labour) were similarly dissatisfied.

They reported a 46 per cent increase in dissatisfaction levels.

Sales and marketing professionals experienced a 33 per cent rise in dissatisfaction due mainly to poor work-life balance.

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The top five sectors for year-on-year salary growth were financial and insurance services (12.9 per cent), construction (11.7 per cent), IT (9.6 per cent), legal (7.8 per cent) and mining (6.8 per cent).

In terms of future pay intentions, media (31 per cent) led the way, followed by legal (14 per cent), construction (12 per cent), technology and IT (9 per cent).

Air and marine transport (30 per cent) and education professionals (21 per cent) were most likely to report minimal salary increases of just 2.5 per cent or less, the report found.

The national average salary in the Hays database for mid to senior-level professional positions was $141,900 with Western Australia leading the states and territories.

The average professional salary in Western Australia was $147,200.

Western Australia also had the highest proportion of people earning over $250,000 at eight per cent.

Tasmania had the lowest average salary in the country for professionals at $125,900.

This compared to $143,800 in NSW, $142,300 in Victoria and $140,500 in the ACT

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