Wage and salary growth hits record levels, government labor experts say.
By Garry Kranz Comments 0 | Recommend 0
Able to Buy More Kiwis:Finding and keeping quality employees is an uphill
struggle everywhere. While this presents headaches for human resources
directors, workers in certain regions are benefiting from higher pay, including
those in New Zealand. According to New Zealand labor officials, salaries and
wages (including overtime) rose 3.4 percent through the December 2007
quarter—the highest annual rate since the government agency began tracking the
statistics in 1992. The accelerated wage growth was not anticipated, and
reflects that desperate companies are willing to pay more to hang on to top
performers. New Zealand’s strengthening economy, coupled with shortages of
skilled workers, prompted companies to fatten employee paychecks. Of the 464
companies surveyed by the independent New Zealand Institute of Economic
Research, nearly half say that acquiring top talent is harder now than it was in
preceding months, according to Bloomberg.com.
Workforce Management contributing editor Garry Kranz is based in Richmond, Virginia. E-mail editors@workforce.com to comment.
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