3 March 2008
Salary survey paints positive picture for Aussie communicators
Most communicators on $100,000 or more per annum.
New South Wales-based communications recruitment firm, Salt & Shein, has published new research data on compensation, roles and skills for business communicators.
The 2008 Communicators’ Remuneration Study compiles data from 293 respondents in the Australian communications sector, and builds on Salt & Shein’s inaugural survey from 2006.
High salary brackets
The data shows a surprisingly healthy and highly-compensated area of business, with the majority of respondents, some 87%, earning more than AUD$100,000 per annum before any bonuses.
For employee communicators specifically, who made up 9% of the respondents, average remuneration was between AU$100,001 – AU$125,001.
Among all respondents, the average salary bracket was AUD$150,001- AU$175,001. Some 29% of respondents were head of their organization’s communications, while 80% of respondents were employed in-house, with the remaining 20% being consultants or external advisors.
The majority of respondents – 71% – felt they were adequately to extremely well-remunerated.
A positive outlook
The male to female ratio of respondents was 46-54% respectively and more than half of the 293 respondents had over 10 years experience.
In a further positive indication for business communicators, the majority of respondents – 71% – felt they were adequately to extremely well-remunerated. The remaining 29% felt they weren't adequately remunerated.
However, despite feeling adequately remunerated, 51% of respondents noted a desire to change jobs within the next 12 months, 30% were not looking to change jobs, the remaining 20% were unsure.
Reputation proves important
When asked about key performance indicators, the top 3 indicators mirror the findings of the 2006 survey and were:
- “quality of relationships with stakeholders” (56.9%);
- “managing perceptions” (48.5%); and
- “accurate representation in the marketplace” (42.6%) .
Large increases since 2006
The results of the Salt & Shein survey show significant advances in remuneration from Melcrum’s own 2006/7 “Pulse” survey.
Data from that report, which focuses on internal communication specifically, showed average salaries in the Asia-Pacific region ranging from AU$52,400- AU$65,000* for one year or more's worth of experience, rising to AU$78,600-AU$91,700* for those with 11-15 years of experience.
The full survey will shortly be available on the Salt & Shein website.
Currency conversion as of 1st August 2006 at AU$1.31 per US$.
Further news and resources:
Are you worth your salary?
How does your salary, budget and department size compare on a worldwide scale?
Got a news story? Contact the newsdesk