Yahoo Finance Millions of Aussie workers see pay boost
Aussies who work for small businesses are starting to see a boost to their pay packets, thanks to the low unemployment rate.
Wages in small and medium businesses lifted 1.8 per cent in August, according to Employment Hero analysis, with the median hourly wage now sitting at $34.45.
That was an 8.6 per cent rise since the same time last year.
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"We're witnessing talent shortages affecting key areas and industries, which in turn is slowly lifting salary growth with median hourly rates increasing as businesses prioritise retaining and attracting talent," Employment Hero CEO Ben Thompson said.
Employees between 18 and 64 years of age experienced an 8.9 per cent lift in wages compared to a 7.6 per cent increase for staff over 65.
Thompson said higher wages could be used to entice older workers into the workforce.
"Given one of the areas discussed at the recent jobs and skills summit was getting older workers back into the workforce, this disparity may not encourage them to postpone retirement plans," he said.
The report, based on data collected from 120,000 small and medium-sized businesses, also showed staff numbers were still increasing but the rate of growth was easing.
Tight labour market
Workers have been given more options than ever before thanks to the ultra-low unemployment rate.
Research from Robert Half found 86 per cent of Aussie office workers had received multiple job offers when looking for a new role.
Unsurprisingly, salary was the deciding factor when choosing between roles, with more than 68 per cent saying pay was the top reason to choose one job over another.
This was followed by flexibility (40 per cent) and benefits (37 per cent).
On the other hand, only 2 per cent of workers would be influenced to choose one company over another for their environmental, social, governance and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and just 1 per cent would choose the first offer extended to them based on timing.
- With AAP
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