Careers in Australia that can expect to see wage growth in 2018

A customer counts his Australian dollar banknotes at an exchange office in downtown Cairo, Egypt, April 19, 2016. Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Learning/artificial intelligence, infrastructure project directors, digital designers, healthcare workers and data analytics and security are careers in Australia that can expect to see the strongest wage growth in 2018. The prediction comes as one in 10 Australians reportedly has plans to make a career shift this year.

Robert Walters, an Australian recruitment firm, has shared its predictions about which jobs in Australia can see the highest pay increase. Employees who work in technology and infrastructure industries can look forward to the highest pay rise among other careers, Robert Walters Salary Survey for 2018 suggests.

Robert Walters NSW Director Andrew Hanson spoke with TODAY about the results. “As always, supply and demand are going to drive these things,” he said. Infrastructure jobs, specifically in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, are tipped to see a double-digit rise. Heavy federal and state investment in road and rail projects are said to drive growth.

Hanson added that civil engineers and project managers will also do well. More Australians concerned about their mental health as well as the ageing population may also generate more jobs and drive wage growth.

On the other hand, some jobs are not expected to see growth in 2018. These include qualified accountants and marketing roles.

Australian job market had experienced a pickup last year, but it is not expected to happen again in 2018. According to an estimate by Westpac Banking Corp, the current annual jobs growth of 3.2 percent is equal to US payrolls adding 4.6 million workers over the same period. It did not look sustainable.

Ryan Felsman, a senior economist at the securities unit of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said that forward indicators of hiring intentions still suggest that the labour market will tighten further. “The transmission from strong employment growth to pay rises for employees remains elusive,” Bloomberg reports him as saying.

The government has hailed last year’s employment gains. Most of the new jobs in 2017 were full-time, making it a tough act to follow in 2018. Historically, a solid year has been followed by a weaker one. Jobs in mining construction boomed in 2010, but hiring cooled down the following year amid a surplus of resource supply.

A federal government data recently indicated that university graduates are seeing the strongest employment market in five years. To stay up to date about the most updated salary information and employment trends in Australia, visit Robertwalters.com.au.