Positively Wellington for better wages

Capital workers earn more than Aucklanders but pay packets are rising. Photo / APN

Wellingtonians earn $3289 more on average than Aucklanders and the most in the country, according to data compiled by online job search site Seek.co.nz.

The figures show the average annual New Zealand wage of $69,140 is increasing, with the average salary package rising month-on-month for the past three months. The information is based on job listings on the Seek website.

Since September, the average salary has increased by $619 to $69,140.

Seek senior executive Helen Souness said this was positive news for employees, who have suffered from years of widespread pay freezes and retrenchment, but warned employers to be cautious on their expectations for this year.

"The New Year is the traditional time for people to review where they are in their career and those who have not received pay increases recently may be motivated to look at other options.

"Many employees feel the only way to receive a significant increase in their salary is through a change in employer. As the employee market changes in the New Year, companies who want to keep valuable staff members will need to review the market rate for their roles and adjust salaries accordingly," Souness says.

A Seek job satisfaction and motivation survey showed 70 per cent of respondents were keeping their eyes open for new opportunities this year.

The survey also showed that many job seekers preferred to change jobs to a higher salary than negotiate a pay rise with their present employer.

Just under 30 per cent of job seekers listed a salary increase as the most important aspect when considering a new job.

Some 4000 people were interviewed by research agency Sweeney Research for the survey on job satisfaction.

The latest Seek data shows employees in Wellington earn $5252 more than the national average - the average salary in the capital is $74,392.33 and in Auckland it is $71,103.33. The West Coast and Taranaki follow in third and fourth place for the highest salaries.

Hawkes Bay and Marlborough are the lowest at $52,000.

Seek calculated the average salaries for the cities and regions, and the national average, from a range of jobs listed on the site.

Seek spokeswoman Alexandra McCabe said an average was taken from all the different categories - lower, medium and high salaries - to ensure a "really accurate representation [salaries] of jobs".

Madison Recruitment chief operating officer Julie Cressey said "there is definitely an upward trend in salaries now".

"We are finding for the first time in quite a long time that we have had counter offers, meaning when employees resign from an organisation [for another job] the organisation is turning around and offering them an increase in their salary to stay. That, naturally, has an impact on salary."

Cressey said companies were becoming more aware of the cost of replacing employees and training up new ones.

"The fact that we are seeing some counter offers coming back into the market place tells us that organisations are recognising that it is going to be harder to replace someone that is leaving and therefore you are hearing of salary increases."

EARNINGS CLIMB

* National average: $69,140.00.

* Wellington average: $74,392.33.

* Auckland average: $71,103.33.

* Southland average: $62,797.97.

* Otago average: $58,888.67.

* Marlborough: $52,785.00.

Figures based on Seek.co.nz job listings.