Jump in jobs offering $100k-plus

Drake New Zealand senior consultant Rachel Davis says the rise in the number of higher salary offerings is good news for Tauranga. Photo/John Borren

Six-figure incomes appear to be on the rise as employers increase salaries to help lure skilled staff from out of town, say recruitment agencies.

Latest figures from Trade Me Jobs showed 28 job listings with salaries of $100,000 or more in Tauranga and the Western Bay, and 38 listings advertised on Seek in the same salary range.

That included recent listings for two qualified drainlayers required to manage a drainage crew.

Other recent listings included qualified carpenters, electricians, a skilled concreter, mobile plant operator, senior infrastructure project manager and a senior geotechnical engineer.

For the six months ended June 30, 2015 there were 3974 listings, of which 143 or 3.6 per cent were in the $100k-plus range, compared to 2.2 per cent for the previous six months - a jump of 116 per cent.

Seek figures show its listings for jobs $100,000 and over was up 11.5 per cent in 2014, compared to the year before.

Drake New Zealand branch senior consultant Rachel Davis said they had definitely noticed an increase in employers offering higher salaries.

Mrs Davis said there was a growing number of people moving to Tauranga from Auckland with higher skills and experience, and employers were attempting to catch them with more competitive pay rates.

It was no longer enough just to say this is the pay rate people can expect in Tauranga, she said.

"That has always been a huge frustration for us and for our clients, particularly when people are effectively doing the same job in larger main centres such as Auckland, but it is not reflected in the salary package offered."

1st Call Recruitment managing director Phill van Syp said the job market was "very tight" as the unemployment rate had come down, and companies were competing for qualified and talented staff, with higher salary offerings.

Personnel Resources managing director Ian Chitty said there had definitely been some movement in salary packages after the recent changes in the economy, particularly within the dairy industry.

Mr Chitty said employers were definitely more willing to pay higher salaries to attract the right people, particularly chartered accountants, engineers, those working in specialist medical fields, plus top sales management positions.

Tauranga-based Residential Building Services recently advertised an architectural quality assurance draughting position on Seek, offering a six-figure pay package. Company owner Richard Carver said in his experience there was a significant gap of 20 to 30 per cent between the cost of living in Auckland versus Tauranga, and this was reflected in the salaries being paid here compared to the Auckland market.

"I am not sure that salaries will rise as more people move to the Bay of Plenty relative to Auckland growth.

"They will rise based on the ability of employers to run profitable businesses in Tauranga.

"In my experience, Tauranga is still seen as a desirable retirement destination and a lot of people move to Tauranga as a lifestyle family choice, not for remuneration reasons," he said.