2. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
INTRODUCTION
Frazer Jones is a global, market leading Our expert consultants have developed a We are committed to the identification
recruitment business working exclusively reputation for providing honest, insightful and nurturing of great HR talent,
within the Human Resources market. advice as well as access to a unique and proactively connecting with them to
Established as HR Matters in 1994 in diverse network of the world’s top HR discuss their long-term aspirations,
Australia, the business merged with UK talent. Our relationships are based on understand what really motivates them
leader Frazer Jones in 2004 to become excellent service delivery and long term and facilitate career planning and
the first truly global HR recruitment success. management. As the first established HR
specialist. We have over 40 consultants recruitment firm in Australia, we have
with connections to great HR talent within We supply HR talent to a complete built up a depth of knowledge about the
the Asia Pacific and EMEA regions through cross-section of clients, from the world’s HR market that is second to none.
offices in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, largest companies to small
Dubai and London. Our knowledge, owner-managed businesses. With
resources and access to the best dedicated consultants specialising in
candidates are never limited by specific levels, from entry-level up to
geography. With this truly global reach, Group Executive, our purpose is to identify
we partner with our clients to improve the and assess outstanding HR professionals
talent management process and build and match them with key roles globally.
successful teams.
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3. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
PERMANENT MARKET OVERVIEW/UPDATE
Over the past couple of years the severe Which is why the recovery through 2010 “We are already noticing
downturn in the global economy, and has been all the more remarkable. The
subsequently all recruitment activity, has first signs of recovery in the form of
some employers offering
been reported on and discussed at length. recruiting new talent happened as early as attractive increases to
The net result of the GFC in all major August 2009, but not to the same extent attain the best calibre
financial centres across the world was as it did at the start of 2010. Our 2009
businesses stopped hiring and HR Market Expectations Survey predicted
candidates.”
redundancies becoming the norm. that hiring activity would not kick in until
With regards to salaries and bonuses,
Granted, Australia weathered the storm the second half of 2010, but it genuinely
unsurprisingly there was very little
far better than the United Kingdom and appears that many people significantly
movement for anyone in 2009, with
the US (we of course never went in to underestimated the speed of the recovery
companies almost universally freezing all
recession), but most companies took a with job levels in HR recovering both
increases. A huge proportion of candidates
significant knock during the latter half of quickly and significantly at the start of the
starting their job search in 2010 have
2008 and throughout most of 2009. year. Economic indicators all consistently
been on the same salary package for up to
point to sustained recovery, with
2 years, with no clear indication as to
Australia’s GDP figures remaining positive
when this might improve. Before the
and amongst the best in the developed
downturn HR salaries in Australia,
world.
particularly in Sydney, had reached levels
that were well above the global market
The financial services sector was hit early
rate; the downturn did at least bring some
and hit hardest, but it has certainly
sensibility to pay grades. As the market
bounced back stronger and more quickly.
continues to improve employers will have
The resources, IT&T and energy sectors
to ensure they look at incentivising their
have also continued to improve this year.
staff correctly.
In the permanent area, we have seen a
marked improvement in the amount of
Whilst we are yet to return to the
learning & development roles, as well as
extremes of 2006/2007 when candidates
recruitment and reward. It seems that the
were receiving multiple offers with vastly
acquisition, development and retention of
inflated salaries, we are already noticing
its talent is at the top of all company
some employers offering attractive
objectives as business leaders strive to
increases to attain the best calibre
retain their best people as we enter this
candidates. This couples an increasing
period of regrowth.
number of candidates receiving more than
one offer.
“Many people significantly
The GFC has certainly left its mark,
underestimated the speed reminding us that a buoyant market will
of the recovery.” always be followed by a low. We have
witnessed the speed at which recruitment
can dry up, but also at how quickly things
can bounce back. Barring any exceptional
global economic shocks, we would expect
the market for HR professionals in
Australia to continue to improve over the
next two years.
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4. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
INTERIM MARKET OVERVIEW
As Australia came out of the economic As a result of the market being reactive in The market sentiment in the early part of
downturn we started to see an immediate the first part of 2010, there was not a 2010 pointed to headcount and budget
need for short term contractors. With a huge demand for executive level interim restraints still being a factor, resulting in a
renewed focus on business sustainability, work. Companies requiring change notable increase in the use of temporary
talent had to be sourced at the speed in managers and organisational designers and interim staff. This presented good
which the market was recovering. Over were not initially prominent, but this has opportunities for those candidates /
the course of 2010, this has led to an steadily increased through the second half professionals looking to start an interim
increase in the volume of contract of 2010. career or continue as a professional
positions in the market. contractor.
There has also been a demand for
As expected when top performing individuals with global and international Broadly speaking the outlook for the
permanent candidates are not moving experience who can deliver results Australian HR industry over the next
roles, the amount of roles on a temporary quickly. We have certainly noticed an couple of years is positive and despite
basis increases. The increase has mainly increased appetite for overseas arrivals wider (global) economic issues, we
been in the junior to mid level space ($20 with working holiday visas. A good believe it will be a good twelve months in
to $35 per hour), with contracts generally proportion of this pool of people have the interim market. We will continue to
ranging from two - six months. In the first stepped into roles quite quickly after support both our clients and candidates
part of 2010, most of these opportunities arriving in Australia. and look forward to hearing from you if
were Recruitment Consultant / Officer and you require advice on the current interim
HR Coordinator roles. This increase “The early part of 2010 market.
resulted in an immediate need to bring
staff on board to assist with high
pointed to a notable
workloads, while companies assessed increase in the use of
how they were going to restructure their temporary and interim
teams and deal with these increased
volumes of work.
staff.”
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5. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
GLOBAL MARKET
As Australian organisations emerged from
the global financial crisis many took a
more targeted approach to their
recruitment. With 2009 being a tough year
in recruitment globally, we have seen the
Australian HR community looking to the
broader market to find exceptional talent.
With international markets such as the UK
and US lagging in their rebuild phase,
Australian organisations have been far
more open to sponsorship in 2010.
The UK market has seen a healthy
increase in recruitment activity in 2010,
and they expect the net result to show a
continued upward swing in the number of
roles across the £30,000 to £70,000
salary range. However, the market for “top
talent” in this range will remain tight
which may lead to some salary inflation
for top quality candidates. The number of
senior HR jobs is also on the rise and
there remains a large supply of good Historically, banking and financial The Australian market is also seeing an
candidates. Organisations are seeing services, professional services and law increase in the acceptance of expatriates
strong shortlists for most roles and are firms have been the main industries that with Working Holiday Visas for short term
benefiting from this surplus. Conversely, will look at sponsorship as a competitive contracts. There are certainly increasing
senior candidates may have found 2010 option, often due to the global nature of opportunities of sponsorship for some
frustrating as those organisations remain their business. However, we have noticed candidates once they have proved
highly prescriptive about the skill sets and an increase in a range of large Australian themselves within a role on a temporary
backgrounds of the individuals they look employers looking at hiring HR basis. As you would expect, this is
to take on. Candidates had to be very professionals from off shore, at a variety predominantly happening in larger
flexible during 2009; many have been of levels. Reward organisational organisations.
happy to look at working and staying development and recruitment
away from home or even relocating to professionals have always been in
secure the next role. We have seen this demand, however, more recently we have
trend continue to an extent, throughout also seen increased demand for
2010 as those living in certain parts of commercial HR business partners at the
the UK will have to look further afield for more senior levels.
the right role.
“We have noticed an
increase in employers
looking at hiring HR
professionals from off
shore, at a variety of
levels”
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6. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
THE 2010/11
SALARY SURVEY
The data and commentary that follows
appear as a result of qualitative research
and input from HR professionals, as well
as information taken from interviews and
recruitment assignments handled by our
Consultants over the past eighteen
months.
We have broken down the survey into six
‘grades’, with bespoke data for the varied
areas of HR. The terminology we have
used for job titles in this document is
purely representative of what we have
come across regularly in the market. It is
not indicative of a role’s seniority as the
variance in usage by organisations and
across different industry sectors is
significant. For the purposes of this survey
we have divided each ‘grade’ into two
sections: one to represent small to
medium-sized organisations typically up
to around 4,000 staff. The second
represents larger businesses, usually over
4,000 staff. Also included in the larger
business section would be those global
businesses with a smaller population in
Australia (often investment banks and
professional services firms).
This year, rather than give different
bandings for different sectors, we have
produced the data for the different types
of role found in HR. As the salary bandings
are already relatively broad, the various
sector nuances are better articulated by
our Consultants who know their specific
market inside-out. Relevant information
on industry trends can be found in the
summaries on each page, as can a list of
general responsibilities attached to these
types of job.
The salary ranges shown are a direct
representation of the data collected during
the survey. As such, there are significant
variances in the minimum and maximum
figures. As always, please contact one of
our consultants to discuss salary ranges in
more detail.
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7. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
ADMINISTRATOR/ CO-ORDINATOR/ ANALYST
These positions broadly focus on support The downturn in the market saw a need
to HR teams and the basic administrative for many HR Administrators and
duties of the HR function. The HR Coordinators to increase their work loads
Administrator or HR Coordinator will often as well as their skill sets due to the cut
be the first point of contact for all HR backs of more senior positions within HR
queries and will be responsible for a teams. For these employees, a move to a
variety of tasks ranging from basic new organisation into an HR Advisor or HR
administrative support, HR database entry Officer role should see a reasonable
and maintenance, document preparation, increase in salary, keeping in mind a high
recruitment coordination, training level of competition will exist for these
coordination and reporting. They will also roles.
be actively involved in the coordination of
annual people processes and ad hoc On the other hand, in many organisations
projects. The HR Coordinator title can be administrative functions were scaled back,
used for employees with up to three years carving out more administrative work for
of experience. HR Managers and the like. Due to the
rapid rebuilding of HR teams that we have
HR Analysts are most commonly been experiencing, this junior end of the
specialists with one or two years of HR market should see the creation of
experience in their area of expertise. more jobs for entry level and junior HR
These positions tend to exist most professionals over the next six-twelve
commonly within the area of reward or months.
HR information systems. The Reward
Analyst was in particular shortage during
the GFC due to the obvious scrutiny on
salaries. Equally affected was the junior
L&D market, which took quite a hit in
terms of hiring activity. With the return of
‘nice to have’ development programmes,
the need for coordinators to support the
L&D consultants was all but gone. This is
one area that has not seen a great
increase in the marketplace as yet, despite
increased activity for more mid-senior
level L&D roles.
Small to medium sized businesses Larger organisations
Base salary Bonus Base salary Bonus
Generalist $45,000 - $60,000 NA $50,000 - $70,000 NA
Reward $50,000 - $65,000 NA $50,000 - $75,000 NA
L&D $45,000 - $60,000 NA $50,000 - $65,000 NA
Recruitment / Grad Rec $45,000- $60,000 NA $50,000 - $65,000 NA
OD / Talent / Change NA NA $50,000 - $65,000 NA
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8. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
OFFICER / ADVISOR
The HR Officer/Advisor group have Responsibility for annual processes and Interestingly, we have noticed that junior
responsibility as the HR contact for a providing guidance and advice across HR professionals are generally
defined client group within an reward, recruitment & learning and remunerated well, particularly in larger
organisation. Typically, employees at this development will often fall under this level businesses. Salaries have remained at a
level will have up to five years’ of role, particularly if the organisation premium in this space for the last two
experience. does not have a centralised specialist years, more so than at other levels in HR.
function. However if an organisation does
HR Generalists at this level tend to have have a centre of expertise for these areas,
broad ranging responsibilities, such as there will often be specialist advisors at
providing operational HR support and this level in the group. The specialist roles
advice to employees and line managers most affected by the market downturn
around employee issues such as were the learning and recruitment
performance management, disciplinary positions. These areas have been getting
and grievance issues. Requiring strong increasingly busy throughout 2010, in line
knowledge of HR policies and procedures with the economic recovery.
across the business is of vast importance.
Small to medium sized businesses Larger organisations
Base salary Bonus Base salary Bonus
Generalist $65,000 - $85,000 NA $65,000 - $95,000 5%-10%
Reward $70,000 - $85,000 NA $70,000 - $90,000 5%-10%
L&D $60,000 - $75,000 NA $60,000 - $85,000 5%-10%
Recruitment / Grad Rec $65,000 - $75,000 NA $65,000 - $80,000 5%-10%
OD / Talent / Change $70,000 - $85,000 NA $70,000 - $90,000 5%-10%
ER / IR $60,000 - $80,000 NA $65,000 - $90,000 5%-10%
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9. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
CONSULTANT / SENIOR ADVISOR
The role of the HR Business Partner / HR Typical responsibilities would include As with most roles, the industry that the
Consultant is to work closely with each providing advice to line managers on all HR Consultant works in will influence how
part of the organisation to achieve their HR policy and procedural queries and well paid they are. Often the financial
business goals. They provide strategic HR providing operational support on employee services industry tends to pay more with
planning, analysis and execution support relations’ issues such as performance the incentive of a more attractive bonus
to enhance business performance through management, disciplinary, grievance and scheme. In the first half of 2010 there
people strategies. They would be redundancy processes. In addition they was a demand for consultants at the
responsible for day to day management of would be running the implementation of four-six year band, with good talent at
HR queries normally reporting to a more all HR processes for client groups, ie this level harder to find. Conversely, HR
senior HR Manager. succession planning and salary review Consultants at the more senior level have
processes. In certain roles they will also been in greater supply in the market due
The role of the HR Consultant can vary be responsible for advice and guidance on to less senior Business Partner roles.
depending on industry and size of teams. recruitment and where there is no
This job group includes all HR Generalist centralised recruitment function, providing
roles where there is a defined operational recruitment support.
responsibility for advising client groups
within the business. The professionals at In specialist areas of HR such as learning
this level usually have between four and and developement, OD, reward and
seven years’ HR experience and do not recruitment, we have noticed candidates
ordinarily have direct staff management being paid at a premium (regularly above
duties. their generalist counterparts). Often this
can be due to the shortage of quality
specialists, given many new-to-HR
professionals will not specialise in HR until
this point in their careers.
Small to medium sized businesses Larger organisations
Base salary Bonus Base salary Bonus
Generalist $75,000 - $100,000 5%-15% $80,000 - $120,000 5%-20%
Reward $75,000 - $100,000 5%-15% $80,000 - $120,000 5%-20%
L&D $75,000 - $100,000 5%-15% $80,000 - $120,000 5%-20%
Recruitment / Grad Rec $70,000 - $100,000 5%-15% $75,000 - $120,000 5%-20%
OD / Talent / Change $80,000 - $110,000 5%-15% $80,000 - $130,000 5%-20%
ER / IR $70,000 - $100,000 5%-15% $75,000 - $110,000 5%-20%
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10. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
MANAGER / BUSINESS PARTNER
The Manager level practitioner in most A stand-alone HR Manager may report There is now movement in most sectors
entities is responsible for the human directly to the CEO or Managing Director although the manufacturing industry is
resources function for a medium to of a small-to-medium-sized business, somewhat lagging. From a remuneration
large-sized division and in the case of whilst in larger companies the role would perspective, and following pay freezes at
small-to-medium-sized entities, for the report to a GM of HR or HR Director. many employers, there has been
entire organisation. Managers will movement across the band for HR
typically have responsibility for a small The market for HR Managers was fairly Managers this year, if modest. Pay in the
team of practitioners and depending on static through 2009 but has been gaining OD, talent and change areas, as well as
the size and sophistication of the momentum throughout 2010. Those HR reward, will continue to attract a premium
business, those team members may be Managers who maintained their positions at the top of the banding.
generalists or responsible for one or more during the downturn often did so with
specialism (eg recruitment and learning smaller teams and tightened budgets.
and development). In larger employers,
the HR Manager may be supported by a
centre of excellence for some or all of the
specialist streams. Indeed, some larger
organisations with a particularly
sophisticated HR function, will support a
structure where the business partner has
no direct reports, or at most only one or
two.
Small to medium sized businesses Larger organisations
Base salary Bonus Base salary Bonus
Generalist $120,000 - $150,000 10%-20% $140,000 - $200,000 10%-30%
Reward $120,000 - $160,000 10%-20% $130,000 - $200,000 10%-30%
L&D $120,000 - $160,000 10%-20% $130,000 - $170,000 10%-30%
Recruitment / Grad Rec $120,000 - $150,000 10%-20% $130,000 - $170,000 10%-30%
OD / Talent / Change $120,000 - $160,000 10%-20% $130,000 - $180,000 10%-30%
ER / IR $120,000 - $150,000 10%-20% $130,000 - $170,000 10%-30%
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11. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
SENIOR MANAGER / SENIOR BUSINESS PARTNER
The Senior Manager role is ascribed to With regards to the specialist roles of HR, Naturally roles at this level are at the
individuals who are managing a larger these will typically sit centrally, driving pointy end of any HR structure in terms of
team, usually a minimum of five. Typically strategy in their specialist area from a seniority. However, whilst there will never
these individuals will be overseeing a group-wide perspective. The reporting be the same volume as at more junior
sizeable generalist HR function for a line is usually into the overall HR Director, levels, we would expect this portion of
business division, or a specialist HR but can also be a level down in the largest the market to remain busy for some time,
function such as learning and organisations. Salaries for the ‘Specialist particularly as Senior Leaders are
development, resourcing or reward, in a Heads’ are certainly at a premium at the increasingly looking to surround
larger organisation. If in a generalist role moment, mirroring the market trends we themselves with high calibre experts.
then typically client groups would be a mentioned initially of businesses investing
minimum of 500-1,000 staff, but in larger more heavily in reward, L&D and OD We find that pay ranges vary substantially
organisations this may increase to c.2,000 type-roles, with senior level reward towards the senior end, so there are
staff. From a generalist perspective, the professionals often leading the pack. exceptions to these bandings, and the
responsibilities for professionals at this Frazer Jones has undertaken a number of largest employers in Australia will often
level can often act as quasi-HR Directors ‘Head of Reward’ roles in the past pay substantially more for the divisional /
for their specific business unit (BU) client eighteen months, particularly within the BU “head of” roles. Frazer Jones will
groups. Invariably they will be part of a services’ industries. include this data in the Executive HR
BU senior management or leadership team Director Salary Survey to be released in
with at least a dotted line report into the early 2011 (see below for more
business leader of that area. information on this).
Small to medium sized businesses Larger organisations
Base salary Bonus Base salary Bonus
Generalist $150,000 - $200,000 20%-40% $170,000 - $250,000 30%-50%
Reward $140,000 - $200,000 20%-40% $170,000 - $270,000 30%-50%
L&D $150,000 - $180,000 20%-30% $170,000 - $250,000 30%-50%
Recruitment / Grad Rec $150,000 - $200,000 20%-30% $170,000 - $250,000 30%-50%
OD / Talent / Change $160,000 - $200,000 20%-30% $170,000 - $250,000 30%-50%
ER / IR $140,000 - $180,000 20%-30% $160,000 - $230,000 30%-50%
DIRECTOR / GM
At the executive end of the HR market
salary packages vary more substantially
based on size of company, ownership
(public or private), industry sector,
location and regional complexity. As a
consequence, we are in the process of
developing a specific remuneration survey
for HR Directors and will be publishing this
in early 2011. This will cover generalist
and specialist HR roles and will specify
fixed and variable pay components in
detail. If you require information on this in
the meantime, please contact Paul Breslin.
E. paulbreslin@frazerjones.com.au
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12. AUSTRALIAN HR SALARY SURVEY 2010/11
CONTACT DETAILS
For Executive HR Recruitment, please contact: For Permanent HR Recruitment, please contact:
Paul Breslin Julie Spears
paulbreslin@frazerjones.com.au juliespears@frazerjones.com.au
T. +61 (02) 9236 9090 T. +61 (02) 9236 9090
For Interim HR Recruitment, please contact: For all Melbourne HR Recruitment, please contact:
Renee Clarke Peter Barber
reneeclarke@frazerjones.com.au peterbarber@frazerjones.com.au
T. +61 (02) 9236 9090 T. +61 (03) 8610 8450
www.frazerjones.com.au
Sydney Melbourne London
Level 12, 25 Bligh Street, Level 2, Rialto North Tower, 525 Collins Street, 95 Queen Victoria Street,
Sydney, NSW 2000 Melbourne, Victoria 3000 London, EC4V 4HN
T: +61 (0)2 9236 9090 T: +61 (0)3 8610 8450 T: +44 (0)20 7415 2815
Dubai Hong Kong Singapore
Suite 614, Liberty House, DIFC, 1918 Hutchison House, Level 15, Prudential Tower,
PO BOX 506739, Dubai, UAE 10 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong 30 Cecil Street, Singapore 049712
T: +9714 448 7775 T: +852 2973 6333 T: +65 6236 2932
FRAZER JONES IS A MEMBER OF THE SR GROUP.