Chippies cash in on wage increase

Trade up for a good salary, writes Cara Jenkin

CARPENTERS and cabinet makers have experienced the largest salary increase of any trade this decade, while airconditioning and refrigeration mechanics now are earning the most.

SEEK’s Salary Review finds 29 per cent growth in the average advertised full-time annual salary for carpenters and cabinet makers between 2011/ 12 and 2018/19 to reach $68,076.

Hair and beauty services staff (28 per cent), gardeners and landscapers (25 per cent), security personnel (24 per cent), tailors and dressmakers (22 per cent) and locksmiths (20 per cent) have also recorded strong growth.

Meanwhile, air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics have overtaken electricians to have the largest average advertised full-time salaries in the sector, at $83,278 a year, growing by 18 per cent this decade.

SEEK senior employment trends analyst Leigh Broderick says salaries are connected to demand for workers, which depends on economic activity and the availability of staff.

Growing sectors may experience three or four per cent growth in salaries each year, he says.

Sectors in which work opportunities are softening have lower salary increases, as employers do not have to fight as hard to attract jobseekers.

“Trades have been at the top of the pile, leading most of the private sector,” Broderick says.

“If you take a long-term view, (prospects are) very healthy.

“It’s going through a cycle at the moment – the long-term prospects are there but in the short term, there has been some adjustment there.”

He says softening in the construction industry in the past 18 months has offset several years of salary and jobs growth earlier this decade.

Broderick says, however, salary should not be the main factor when deciding on a career path, as there may be many more employment opportunities in other roles.

“If you’re focusing on salary ... you’re limiting yourself a little bit,” he says.

“The one that’s really a standout is automotive trades – that’s an area where salaries are a bit more modest, but the employment opportunity is massive.

“We hear from our hirers that they really struggle to fill roles in mechanical workshops, there’s not enough mechanics out there.”

He says automotive trades jobs range from motor mechanics servicing cars to diesel mechanics repairing heavy machinery.