Pay rises in Australia’s property industry have returned to pre-pandemic conditions, with median salary increases at 4%, compared with 2% last year, according to the latest Avdiev Property Industry Remuneration Report.
The 36th issue of the Avdiev Report follows a formal, Australia-wide survey of property industry companies.
“Property companies have weathered the Covid storm and are now faced with a new set of challenges. There are many balls to juggle: winning work, managing profitability and having the skilled workforce to complete it,” says Avdiev Report principal Debra Moloney. Companies must also address pay demands and find a new balance between remote and in-office work, she adds.
The four per cent median pay increase included a ‘catch-up’ component for around a third of senior and mid-level staff, Moloney explains. Sixty per cent of property companies report staff or skills shortages have influenced pay increases, and one third expect staff attraction, retention and shortages to be their biggest challenge over the next 12 months.
Less than 10 per cent of companies still have pay freezes in place, down from 43 per cent in 2021.
Assistant project managers have enjoyed the largest salary uptick, according to the survey, with a 5.5 per cent median increase. They can now command a median salary of $77,350 a year. Development directors, sitting on an average of $389,150 annual salary and incentives, received a 3.5 per cent average increase. Capital transactions, acquisitions and sales executives received a four per cent increase to reach a median salary of $252,800, including incentives.
Nearly half (44%) of employees who left jobs over the last reporting period did so because they had been offered the same role at a different company for higher pay.
The survey revealed 71 per cent of companies monitor pay equity, and 59 per cent are taking steps to address the gap. But just 74 per cent of companies pay men and women the same salary for the same position.
Property companies are also grappling with the issue of staff returning to the office. Almost 20 per cent of the businesses surveyed have staff returning to the office full time. Most are pursuing hybrid models, with 72 per cent expecting workplace flexibility to continue.
“Once again, the property industry is showing us it has an extraordinary ability to adjust when faced with altered circumstances,” Moloney adds.
“Pay rises are returning to normal, but there is upward pressure on remuneration – and this needs to be carefully addressed.”