The 12th Annual Frontline Retail Salary Guide has been released. Included in the Newsletter is a dedicated insert with all salary information taken from our annual survey of retail salaries across Australia.
In the last 12 months Frontline Retail has placed over 2226 candidates and interviewed over 11659 candidates for retail positions that Frontline has listed. The information contained within this survey is based on the data collected from both clients and candidates, through roles advertised by clients, and candidates placed by Frontline Retail.
The salary figures are based on actual salaries for candidates who have been placed during this time and candidates’ salaries in their position prior to being interviewed by Frontline Retail.
2008 - A Year In Review
• For most of 2008 it continued to be a candidates market with unemployment sitting at around 4%.
• For clients it meant that attraction and retention had become priorities for most businesses as ways of dealing with the 'war for talent'. Flexibility surrounding packaging, flexibility, candidate experience and the consideration of transferable skills across sectors had enabled companies to expand the pool of available candidates. You can read more about this in our “War on Talent” article series in the Resources section of our website.
• For candidates it meant that there was room to move on salary negotiations but they had to beware the trap of being caught in the process of counter offers and reputation of job hopping. It was not uncommon for candidates to be made multiple job offers and to be counter offered by their current employer. This tight candidate market saw salaries increase over the past 12 months.
• The events and subsequent fallout from the Global financial crisis has seen the recruitment and employment market change quite dramatically since October 2008.
• We noticed a slow down in employment in June 2008 which is normal for the end of financial year but the demand never significantly picked up and then the financial crisis hit.
• Many businesses could see potential problems emerging and started to slowdown their recruitment efforts.
• Initially clients focussed on internal recruitment and bolstered their HR teams but when the crisis hit, some internal HR teams were made redundant because businesses were not hiring and therefore had no need for these individuals. (HR recruitment is down over 30% from the previous 6 months).
• This shake up from the financial crisis has meant both jobs and candidates have dried up in the short term. Businesses, because they are taking a wait and see approach and candidates because they are concerned about job security and what might happen if they leave their current employer.
• The early indicators are that the employment market will swing in favour of the client as the unemployment rate rises to a projected 6% in the next twelve months and that this will see salaries stabilise for the next twelve months for the majority of employees.
• The client needs to be mindful that there will be more candidates in the market as unemployment rises but the level of passive candidate activity has not dropped off in spite of the uncertainty associated with the fallout from the financial crisis.
• The three main job boards in Australia have 1.4 million unique browsers viewing their job boards each month and with only 200,000 job ads posted (down over 22% from last year) obviously a number of actively employed candidates are passively seeking employment. This means existing employees are still looking and clients need to ensure they secure their top performers.
• The top performers will continue to be difficult to attract and retain in this changing marketplace. On one hand they want job security but also want to be recognised for their hard work and some of these individuals will be working harder because of redundancies within their businesses. Competitive salary will continue to be a key determinant for these top performers.
• With a slowdown in recruitment at many businesses we should see salaries remaining at consistent levels for at least the next six months.
IN A RECENT GLOBAL SURVEY
• Nearly half of businesses in Australia and New Zealand are axing employees or freezing staffing levels - three times more than eight months ago - on expectations that business conditions will worsen.
• According to a worldwide survey of pay and staffing at more than 2,500 organisations by global consultancy Hay Group in November, 17% of organisations in Australasia are decreasing staff numbers, and 27% are freezing them.
• Twenty-seven per cent expect business results to be significantly worse than targeted levels, compared to 7% in March.
Nonetheless, 64% of local organisations expect results close to targeted levels in 2008.
• The global survey found that Africa and the Middle East have been the least affected by the economic downturn, with only nine per cent of African companies and 12% of Middle Eastern companies reporting business results significantly below target.
• Local results were in line with the overall global trend.
The oil and gas sectors had weathered the downturn better than other industries, with 19% of respondents expecting business results significantly better than targeted.
• The retail sector was one of the hardest-hit sectors globally, with 63% of respondents expecting poor business results due to lower consumer spending and tighter credit markets.
• The survey also found that organisations were concerned about retaining top talent and critical skills, maintaining and affording competitive pay, and maintaining employee motivation.
• Fifty-three per cent of local respondents were changing or considering changing their budgets for base salary increase for 2009, with 24% freezing or considering freezing salaries for all employees.
ABOUT THE GUIDE
In 1997, Frontline Retail surveyed salaries paid by small Speciality Retailers in Sydney only and slowly expanded the survey over the years to include Speciality Retailers, Department Stores and turnover categories. This year the Survey was conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, North Coast NSW, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Far North Queensland, South West Western Australia, Wollongong, Regional Victoria and Darwin. We have split the Survey into Metropolitan and Regional centres and included not only the salary information but also a summary of each market by the Agency manager in that region. A New Zealand salary guide is also available. Please contact your Frontline Retail consultant for more information.
UNDERSTANDING THE GUIDE
To provide usable data for each position we have indicated the salary “Range” for each level surveyed. The “Range” indicates the typical salary bracket, which is being paid in the marketplace for each position and level within that position.
It is important to note that each salary “Range” does not represent the highest and lowest salaries for each group, as this would alter the ranges dramatically. For example, one candidate in the survey; an Assistant Store Manager in the $3 to $4 million-dollar level is paid substantially higher than other Assistant Store Managers at the same level. The circumstances surrounding this are quite out of the ordinary and it is considered to be misleading to include these types of anomalies in the Guide.
In order to deal with large deviations from the range and provide realistic figures for each level, we have used the statistical function of “Standard Deviation”.
IMPORTANT POINTS
• The figures in the Survey are gained from real salaries and provide a reflection of what the Retail employment market is actually paying.
• The figures are not related to any State or Federal Award.
• The figures include superannuation at the rate of 9%.
• Frontline Retail uses these figures as a guide when advising Clients and Candidates on salary levels.
• In the case of salary packages, where a car or car allowance is included (in the groups surveyed a car allowance is rare), we have not included the value of the car or allowance in the salary figure in the Guide.
• Performance based bonuses are generally on offer for all levels of management and are excluded from these packages.
• As a general trend the more senior the position, the higher the deviation.
We would like to express our gratitude to all those people who made this Survey possible by providing invaluable feedback which we feel has made it one of the most accurate and up to date surveys of its kind addressing the retail sector in Australia.
We welcome any feedback or comments regarding this survey whether positive or negative to ensure that it continues to be relevant to the Australian marketplace. Please contact your local Frontline Retail consultant should you require any additional information about local market issues.
Salary Survey - Metro
Salary Survey - Regional
For general information please contact national@frontlineretail.com.au