Wage rises: who's ahead

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Bean-counters got richer; baked bean stackers got poorer.

Accountants came out on top in a national survey of pay increases over the past five years, but supermarket workers fared the worst.

Figures gathered on behalf of employers show that the wallets of high-skilled workers have fattened the most.

The average basic salary of $54,600 for an accountant with less than five years' experience is 35 per cent more than in 1996.

Low-skilled workers, meanwhile, have had the smallest increases.

Checkout operators' pay slid backwards 2 per cent to $18,400 and warehouse storeworkers receive just 2.4 per cent more than five years ago.

Kitchenhands are paid less than 3.5 per cent extra.

"In a way, it's telling us what we all knew - if we want to succeed, we've got to get people better educated, better trained and higher skilled," said Alasdair Thompson, chief executive of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern), which organised the survey.

"People with technical skills, no matter what the skill is, are getting at least 50 per cent more in pay than those without them."

According to the survey, company directors, unsurprisingly, earn the most - a national average of $127,500.

Of the 35 job positions surveyed, checkout operators come last, but Mr Thompson said the figures showed only basic pay rates and did not include allowances, overtime or bonuses.

That was backed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. While there was no clear reason for the growth in pay rates, studies on behalf of the institute showed performance-related benefits had become a feature of remuneration packages.

Bonuses and share issues amounted to more than 25 per cent of total remuneration for those earning more than $150,000.

The Council of Trade Unions said the employers' survey confirmed that disparities in income had become greater under the now-repealed Employment Contracts Act.

CTU secretary Paul Goulter said he believed Labour-Alliance Government initiatives such as the Employment Relations Act and the modern apprenticeship scheme would make a difference.

"New Zealand needs to become a highly skilled economy."