Advertised pay for government roles jumps sharply, SEEK says

Advertised pay for government roles has jumped sharply, even as salary growth across the wider labour market continues to lag inflation, according to new data from employment marketplace SEEK.The latest SEEK Advertised Salary Index shows government advertised salaries were up 10 percent in the year to August, and 2.5 percent over the quarter, the fastest annual growth for the category since 2018.Across all jobs, advertised pay rose 2.6 percent over the year and 0.6 percent over the quarter.SEEK country manager Rob Clark said the rise was encouraging, but remained below annual inflation of 4.1 percent."Workers may be doing it tough with their purchasing power going backwards," Clark said.Canterbury had the strongest advertised salary growth of any region, up 3.3 percent over the year and 0.7 percent over the quarter.Wellington recorded its fastest quarterly growth since August last year, but its annual rate of 1.8 percent was still the weakest among the regions tracked by SEEK.The government figure is striking given wider public-sector restraint but SEEK does not publish the underlying raw data behind the index, making it difficult to know whether this reflects broader pay pressure or a skew towards more senior, specialist, or higher-paying roles being advertised.Banking and financial services had the next strongest advertised salary growth, up 7.6 percent over the year, followed by insurance and superannuation, and mining, resources and energy.Separately, SEEK's employment report showed the jobs market continued to edge higher in August, with job ads up 0.6 percent for the month and 9.7 percent compared with a year earlier.Applications per job ad also rose, up 0.9 percent in July, signalling an overhang in jobseekers despite the number of advertised opportunities also increasing.Rob Clark said hospitality and tourism, and retail and consumer products, helped drive the monthly rise in job ads as employers prepared for the busier summer and holiday period.Auckland recorded its fastest monthly growth in job ads in more than four years, while Wellington continued what SEEK described as a slow but steady upward trend.SEEK also said job ads for occupations with high exposure to automation were slightly lower than a year ago, although it noted AI was unlikely to be the only factor behind the softer demand.SEEK said its figures were based on trend estimates from job ads posted on its platform, with adjustments made to smooth seasonal changes, rather than the total number of vacancies across the economy.