Where should women be looking for a payrise in 2017? Not in traditionally female dominated sectors.
The sectors which have historically hired more women than men, barely get a mention in SEEK’s latest highest pay report.
But out of the top five industries that do, all were male dominated led by mining, resources and energy.
Even after the mining boom has officially ended, the average job in this sector is paying the most year-on-year with average salaries of $115,005, according to SEEK’s Highest Advertised Salaries report.
Management roles in this sector, mostly filled by men, attract $133,169 on average for the year, up 1 per cent.
Compare this to the health care sector, which has men still filling most chief executive roles despite it employing 80 per cent women overall, and the average manager pay is $129,635.
Despite a 1 per cent drop in jobs growth over the past 12 months, the mining sector is still paying more than other male heavy sectors such as consulting and strategy at $108,471, construction at $106,693, engineering at $103,247 and information and communication technology at $102,548.
Wages growth has been at record lows for some time in Australia. Data from the December quarter shows that wages excluding bonuses rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 per cent, and was up 1.9 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Healthcare and medical came in fifth for general practitioner roles as one of SEEK’s top five highest paying jobs.
“We predict General Practitioners [GPs] will in the remain a top paying job on SEEK because as Australian’s live longer and our population continues to increase, so does as their services are essential for enhancing the wellbeing and longevity of Australian lives through medical health care,” said SEEK spokesperson Sarah Macartney.
But what we also know about the health care sector is that most chief executive roles are held by men, with 63 per cent compared to 37 per cent women, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
Whereas mining employs about 84 per cent men, to 15 per cent women.
Information media and telecommunications consists of 61 per cent men to 39 per cent women.
Currently on SEEK the average advertised salary across all jobs is $81,235, which is up 1.8 per cent when compared to the same time last year,” says Ms Mccartney.
Architects within the information and communication technology enjoyed the overall highest advertised salary with $137, 707 on SEEK, up 2 per cent.
“These architects play a fundamental role in the creation and design of new technology to keep Australian’s digitally connected and competitive, and this need is ever increasing.
“Therefore demand for these professionals is high and so are the salaries advertised on SEEK to attract the best talent.
“It’s also interesting that management roles across engineering, mining, resources and energy and information and communication technology industries are among the top five highest paying jobs advertised on SEEK.
Management roles in engineering are paying $133,530, up 3 per cent, and information and communication technology are paying $129,903, up 1 per cent.
“These roles directly support the growth and prosperity of our nation and in return these professionals are being highly remunerated to manage the build teams that can deliver on the needs of businesses,” added Macartney.