South Africans’ salaries grew by a sluggish 3% year-on-year – more than 2 percentage points behind the annual inflation rate for October 2018 of 5,1%.
This is one of the findings from CareerJunction’s 2018 Salary Review, which explores average salary offerings across South Africa’s top 10 sectors.
The slow rate at which wages are increasing is putting a lot of pressure on household spending. Food prices alone have increased on average by 7,1% per annum while electricity and fuels have increased by a staggering 13,8% per annum over the past nine years.
The industry sectors with the lowest increases were IT (-3%), finance (1%), building (1%), and warehousing and logistics (4%).
Marketing saw the highest salary increases, at 20%.
In the middle of the road were engineering (5%), administration (6%), sales (7%), manufacturing and assembly (7%), and medical and health (7%).
In terms of occupation, the finance, engineering and IT sectors dominate the South African job market where earning potential is concerned.
Highest-earning professionals include engineers (industrial, civil, structural, electrical and electronic engineers), accountants, financial analysts, asset managers, corporate lenders, business architects, IT project administrators, business analysts as well as data analysts.
The lowest-earning professionals include those in switchboard and reception, dispatch and receiving, administration, telesales, debt collection, insurance broker and artisanal roles.
The review also focuses on regional pay gaps for top sectors across Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. As can be expected, earning potential remains higher in Gauteng compared to the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Gauteng salaries came in 6% above the national average, with the Western Cape 3% below the national average and KwaZulu-Natal 16% below the national average.