Salary increases were so low in 2018, you're effectively earning less

Unless you are in marketing, you are getting poorer - and data finally confirms what you already know.

CareerJunction, one of South Africa’s top job boards, has just released its 2018 Salary Review, which explores average salary offerings across South Africa’s top-10 sectors.

According to the CareerJunction salary review, salaries only grew by a sluggish 3% year-on-year, in line with the predicted wage increases for 2018 by American company PayScale in their 2018 Compensation Best Practices report. This is more than two percentage points behind StatsSA's annual inflation rate for October 2018 of 5.1%.

The slow rate at which wages are increasing is putting a lot of pressure on household spending, CareerJunction notes. 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.

Of the top 10 sectors analysed, the IT sector fell to the bottom of the list for annual wage increases. Despite being the most sought-after skills set on CareerJunction, the sector experienced negative growth in wages of -3% year-on-year.

The finance and construction sectors saw a minimal growth in wages of only 1% while the warehousing & logistics sector saw a wage increase of 4%.

According to the CareerJunction Index, these four sectors alone make up more than 50% of employment through the website.

The engineering, admin, sales, manufacturing and medical sectors saw moderate wage increases during 2018.

The marketing sector was a notable exception, says CareerJunction, experiencing a "staggering" increase in salary offerings of 20%.

Highest earning professions

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.

Lowest earning professions

Lowest-earning professionals include those in switchboard and reception, dispatch and receiving, admin, telesales, debt collection, insurance broker and artisanal roles.

Regional differences

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.

The average salary gaps between provinces are: Gauteng: 6% above the national average; Western Cape: 3% below the national average; KwaZulu-Natal: 16% below the national average.