SMEs set to dig deep as graduate salaries rebound

Small- and medium-sized enterprises are expected to dig deeper for graduates, with a report showing the slump in graduate pay is over.

The median graduate salary for university graduates starting out next year has risen 2% to $56,000, according to a report conducted for the Australian Association of Graduate Employers, a not-for-profit body which represents organisations that recruit graduates.

The survey found that two-thirds of respondents plan to raise their 2013 starting salaries by the cost of living, but 8% plan on higher increases.

But organisations that hire the bulk of the graduates – accounting firms, professional services firms and Government departments – have offered a median graduate salary of just over $50,000, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The report, based on a survey of almost 3,300 employers and employees from 1,554 Australian organisations over the five months to September, found that graduates set to work for investment banks and fund managers lead the pack with pay packets of $90,000.

Next in line are graduates starting out in energy, mining and resources companies, who have signed off for $60,000 next year.

Martin Nally, managing director of hranywhere, says it’s no surprise that graduate salaries are trickling up.

“Yes, the retail sector is suffering, but other sectors are not,” Nally says.

He says solid starting-out prices for graduates in banks and resource companies are not surprising because we do “genuinely work in a two-speed economy”.

“There’s no question the finance sector is the place to work. Look at the profit line of the banks. Wake up and smell the coffee,” Nally says.

“And the resources sector is booming, and they want young graduates.”

Nally says “smart employers are saying, let’s look after the talent in what is perceived to be the down times.”

“Talent management means they’ve got to have people in their pipeline for when the economy picks up.”

According to Nally, the Australian economy is in “suppression”, with plenty of money around but organisations unwilling to splash and looking for signs of an improvement.

Pointing to the likely infrastructure boom in Queensland due to it winning the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Nally predicts plenty more infrastructure spending across the country.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, average weekly earnings rose by 1.3% over the May quarter to $1,020.10, or an increase 4.4% for the year.