Those aged between 40 and 44 earn the most throughout their career. Photo / File
Those aged between 40 and 44 earn the most throughout their career. Photo / File
Millennials are the big winners in this year's pay stakes by generation, with workers in their 20s now earning $33 more per week than they were earlier in the year.
Millennials - those in their 20s - saw an average weekly earnings increase of $33, recorded at $864 per week before tax, compared to $831 in April this year.
Data from Statistics New Zealand reveals those aged between 20 and 24 now earn $701 per week, up from $691 and those aged between 25 and 29 cash in $1027 per week, up from $970 - an increase of $57.
Roman Rogers, regional general manager of New Zealand for recruitment firm Hudson, said the pay rise for millennial workers was no surprise.
"Particularly in some areas now there are some skill shortages and organisations do need to pay more to get talent," Rogers said.
Particular roles, especially those relating to technology jobs, were seeing increasing demand.
The rise could also be down to more young people choosing to go into apprenticeships for trades where they could earn more earlier in their career, he said.
"There is a shortage in highly skilled tradespeople."
The 40s is still the golden age for earners - the time when most people earn the most throughout their careers.
Those aged between 40 and 44 earn the highest amount compared with all other age brackets - a weekly average of $1318 before tax, down $7 from earlier in the year, recorded at $1325. Those between the ages of 45 and 49 now earn $1307 per week, down from $1323.
Rogers said he was surprised to see the earnings drop for those in their early 40s.
"Typically when someone moves through their 40s, that is when they start to get recognised more," he said.
Strategic Pay chief executive John McGill said the decline in higher-paid roles was difficult to understand, but could reflect tight salary policies from the previous government influencing overall figures.
"This is the age cohort where we find a lot of senior technical, managerial, professional roles and generally the demand is strong for this group," McGill said.
"At this stage, I would see the data as a blip in a longer term positive trend, a very small correction perhaps."
Teens, aged between 15 and 19, unsurprisingly earn the lowest weekly income, recorded at $356 per week - unchanged from earlier in the year.
Graphic / NZ Herald
Data shows those aged between 30 and 34 earn an average of $1145 per week and $1242 for those aged 35 to 39.
Those between ages of 50 and 54 earn $1279 per week and a weekly average of $1308 is earned by those between the ages of 55 and 59.
Once you hit 60, however, data reveals earnings decrease with the average weekly income dropping to $1133 and a further decline of $214 for those 65 and over.
McGill said he expected to see large movements at lower paid levels next year.
"The Minister of Finance will have to deal with a lot of raised expectations around pay and this will be a careful path he will have to traverse," he said.
"What will be the effect of these overall trends on the age-related data? Possibly larger movements across the board, more so in the lower pay groups, less so for the oldest cohorts would be my assessment."
