General practitioner top paid profession - Seek

General practitioners' salaries advertised on Seek were up 40 per cent last month, according to new data released by the job-seeker site. Photo / file

General practitioners' salaries advertised on Seek have jumped 40 per cent in the past year and with a growing population and longer life expectancy, the job-seeker website expects it remain among the country's most lucrative careers.

Seek yesterday released data on New Zealand's highest advertised salaries, which placed GPs at the top of the pile with an average annual pay packet of $155,000 in February - up 40 per cent on February last year.

Medical specialists also made the top five with an average advertised salary of $122,000 - up 11 per cent.

"We predict GPs and medical specialists will remain in the top paying jobs on Seek because as Kiwis live longer and our population continues to increase, so will demand for these professionals to help enhance the well-being and longevity of Kiwi lives through medical health care," said Seek spokeswoman Sarah Macartney.

Job ads for the healthcare and medical industry on the whole were up 23 per cent.

The other highest paid advertised salaries were for information and communications technology (ICT) architects ($125,000), IT managers ($125,000) and finance managers ($118,000).

Across industries, the highest-paid field was consulting and strategy which had an average advertised salary of $98,000.

"Advertising for this industry rose 23 per cent year-on-year this February on Seek, which indicates that expert consulting and strategy talent is in high demand to service New Zealand businesses, and they'll be well remunerated," Macartney said.

ICT was the next highest-paid industry, with an average advertised salary of $97,000. It was followed by construction ($97,000) and engineering ($92,000).

"New Zealand's increased demand for new residential and commercial developments, especially in Auckland, as well as seismically strengthen existing infrastructure across the country, is helping drive high salaries across New Zealand's construction and engineering industries," Macartney said.

"Project managers and forepersons and supervisors were the most sought after construction professionals on Seek this February, while across the engineering sector, civil and structural engineers and mechanical engineers were most in-demand professionals on Seek."

Overall, the average annual advertised salary was up 0.8 per cent to $75,000.

The strongest regional salary growth was seen across Marlborough, up 4.2 per cent to $66,000. Otago was next, up 2.7 per cent to $67,000, followed by Hawke's Bay, up 2.5 per cent to $66,000, Canterbury, up 1.5 per cent to $73,000, and Wellington, 1.2 per cent to $81,000.

New Zealand's highest advertised salaries
General practitioners $155,000
ICT architects $1250,00
IT managers $125,000
Medical specialists $122,000
Finance managers $118,000

Highest paying industries (average advertised annual salary)
Consulting and strategy $98,000
ICT $97,000
Construction $97,000
Engineering $92,000
Mining, resources and energy $92,000