2024 set to be the year of new jobs and pay rises
According to the latest survey from recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, 79% of sales, media and communications professionals across Australia and New Zealand will be looking for new jobs in 2024, while 52% will be expecting pay rises from their employers.
The consultancy’s survey of 1,500 industry professionals found that salary increases in 2024 are likely to be limited to inflation at best, flexible working is morphing into more rigid hybrid models and employees are looking to AI to boost productivity.
While just over half of employees are expecting pay rises, 67% of businesses said they will provide them – however, just over half of those (58%) said they don’t expect to offer increases above inflation in the new year.
74% of the respondents said they are confident in opportunities provided by the industry, with 79% looking to find new roles in the new year – mainly due to wanting to grow their careers (35%) or increase their salaries (22%).
“The current job market reflects stability in salary trends, exhibiting minimal variance across sectors,” said Robert Walters’ NSW managing director, Andrew Hanson.
“Notably, roles in high demand encompass senior business development manager, marketing manager, and head of marketing, indicating a persistent need for specialized expertise within these domains.”
The top roles said to secure rises ahead of inflation, according to Robert Walters, are business development manager (average increase of 8%), account manager (increase of 7.6%), head of marketing (increase of 7%), head of sales (increase of 6.8%) and marketing manager (increase of 6%).
Behind inflation, however, roles including marketing coordinator and executive will increase an average of 5% and 4.8%, respectively.
When it comes to flexible working arrangements, Robert Walters found that many employers are more comfortably offering rigid hybrid solutions, such as set days working from home, or considerations of a four-day work week.
“The emphasis on flexible and hybrid work arrangements stands as a crucial factor in both attracting and retaining top-tier talent,” Hanson said.
“Candidate preferences strongly lean towards work structures that offer a blend of remote and on-site options. Significant market shifts are underway, primarily driven by company restructures, resulting in a notable upsurge in senior-level roles.”
In the AI space, 61% of businesses have started, or plan to start, exploring the use of models such as ChatGPT for administrative or routine tasks in the workplace.
Businesses believe AI will improve productivity – however, it will have a “profound effect” on roles and employees, Robert Walters found.
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