13 Jan 2014

Wellingtonians get biggest pay packets

1:32 pm on 13 January 2014

Job site Seek says employees in Wellington, on average, are paid better than their counterparts elsewhere in the country.

Workers in the construction industry are paid an average salary of $92,565 - significantly more than the average salary across all sectors of $74,002 per year, according to seek.co.nz.

AAP reports that Seek compiled the figures for December 2013 based on jobs advertised on the site.

Salaries in the construction industry are among the fastest growing, increasing by about 10% from January last year - second only to the design and architecture industry's almost 12 per cent growth.

"The buoyant real estate market and Christchurch reconstruction are key factors driving the need for employees in design and architecture and construction, with this trajectory expected to continue in 2014," Seek general manager Janet Faulding said.

A legal career, by comparison, looks less promising - wages in the legal sector fell by 12% last year, to $75,479.

But the average construction salary is still well below the mining, resources and energy sector, where the average worker will make $101,622 per year.

Salaries in consulting and strategy, engineering and IT sectors all averaged more than $90,000.

Wellington had the highest average salary at $81,259, while Otago had the lowest at $60,189.

AAP reports both the West Coast and Taranaki had big decreases in their average salaries. West Coast's average fell by 17% to $65,294, while Taranaki fell 13% to $75,349.

Wages in Gisborne rose the most of any region, increasing 10% to $75,000, giving the area the fourth best average salary in the country.

Seek attributes that to a demand for quality employees in the wine industry.

New Zealand pay packets grew overall by 3%, meaning employees had an average of $2000 more to spend in 2013. Seek expects the increase to continue this year.