Robert Walters 2017 Global Salary Survey

Global Overview
Despite the economic and political uncertainty created by Brexit and the US election, many markets across the world experienced strong economic growth and an increase in hiring activity during 2016.

Recruitment in Southeast Asia was buoyed by strong economic growth, rising business confidence and more international companies establishing bases in the region.

There was further pressure on already limited talent pools, particularly in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, with countries focusing on tempting overseas professionals back home.

Salaries continued to rise with some sectors offering average increases of 25-30% for those moving companies.

Japan too continued to face significant talent shortages as unemployment declined and demand outstripped supply, leading to a sustained lack of specialists across many sectors and increasing pressure on salaries.

As the globalisation of both foreign-affiliated and Japanese companies progressed, bilingual professionals were in highest demand.

Despite the slowdown in China’s traditional sectors of manufacturing and engineering, the drive to adopt new technology meant hiring levels were steady, with more modest salary rises anticipated in 2017.

Australia’s economy continued to rebalance in 2016, with specific areas of high demand, although salaries remained broadly flat. However, those with in-demand specialist skill sets commanded much higher financial rewards as organisations battled for new skills and technological knowledge.

Favourable economic conditions led to consistent hiring levels across New Zealand, with jobseekers frequently able to select from multiple opportunities.

There were candidate shortages across Europe, with Belgium in particular experiencing high demand – 83% of employers stated they were affected by talent shortages in 2016.

Likewise, Ireland faced a critical scarcity of talent, leading companies to seek out international candidates.

The Spanish and Portuguese economies continued to improve and global businesses set up new operations and shared service centres, creating jobs in accounting, IT, finance and engineering.

The Netherlands and Germany both saw strong business growth, increased hiring levels and candidate shortages with many German companies turning to professional contractors to fill business critical vacancies.

In the UK, uncertainty around the EU referendum impacted hiring levels in some sectors such as financial services. However, recruitment levels were less affected across non-financial services markets, in particular manufacturing and exports were boosted by the drop in the value of the pound creating opportunities for supply chain, procurement and finance professionals.

Across the Middle East and Africa hiring levels in some sectors were negatively affected by the fall in oil and gas prices, however there were still shortages of local talent. Governments responded with ongoing drives across both regions to implement nationalisation programmes to promote the hiring of local talent.

Across the United States hiring managers were cautious in the first part of the year but overall recruitment levels remained buoyant.

There was growing appetite for digital media and technology skills as well as rising demand for accountants with compliance and regulatory backgrounds.