The war for talent fires up pay

The financial services industry is the place to be for premium paying jobs, according to a recent survey.

Thursday, November 30th 2000, 9:37PM

The financial services industry is the place to be for premium paying jobs, according to Mercer Cullen Egan Dell general manager Wayne Peat.

In its recently released New Zealand Remuneration Review, Mercer Cullen Egan Dell has noted that the retail and financial services industries have benefited the most during the year ending September 2000.

Median total pay in the financial services industry grew by 4.1%, he says.

"The financial services sector has traditionally led the market in terms of pay increases," he says.

Traditionally it has paid a premium for like jobs, he says. For instance, for two people doing the same job in the local government and financial services industries, the person working in local government would, on average, be paid some 16% less than the general market and over 30% less than the person doing the same job in the financial services sector.

Peat says there are a number of hot spots in the industry where employers are prepared to make generous payments to attract and hold onto key staff.

He says these are the specialist areas where there is real talent shortage.

One of the other trends to emerge is that employers are prepared to make additional payments to keep and retain key staff.

Peat says this can include signing on bonuses, which can be up to a year's salary, retention bonuses and providing key staff with equity stakes in the business as a form of golden handcuffs.

Good Returns is aware of one significant and successful manager that has recently given a group of senior executives a stake in the business.

One of the ironies of the financial services industry is that the use of superannuation as part of a remuneration package, while high, has actually decreased over the past five years.

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