Top 10 jobs with the biggest pay rises in 2024 revealed: ‘$116,000 a year’

Engineers, chemists and tradies were among the jobs to receive the biggest pay rises last financial year, new research has revealed. Some skills are still in short supply and workers in the fields are benefitting with bigger pay packets.

Aussie employees were awarded an average 4 per cent increase to their base salaries in 2024, unchanged from 2023, research from consultants Mercer found. But some in-demand jobs received pay increases nearly five times that amount.

Entry-level science workers were awarded the biggest pay bump, with wages rising 19.6 per cent. The broad “science” field covers a wide range of jobs including chemists, product research scientists and hydrologists, with a median base salary of $82,000.

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Entry-level environmental and employee safety engineers came in second place, with salaries rising 13.2 per cent on average and a base pay of $85,000.

Computer-aided design operators and engineering design assistants took third place, with an average salary increase of 13.1 per cent and base pay of $116,000 a year.

The remainder of the list included other engineer jobs including civil and construction engineers (up 12.1 per cent), call centre and online customer service workers (up 9.3 per cent), and repair and maintenance tradies (up 8.1 per cent) , including carpenters, electricians and plumbers.

Mercer said the dominance of science, engineering and trade roles in the list was driven by government infrastructure projects and the energy transition.

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Here were the top 10 jobs with the biggest pay rises in the 2024 financial year, based on Mercer’s survey of 1,280 organisations.

1. Science – entry professional up 19.6 per cent

2. Environmental and employee safety engineering – entry professional up 13.2 per cent

3. Engineering design services – specialist para-professional up 13.1 per cent

4. Other repair and maintenance trades – experienced para-professional up 12.9 per cent

5. Civil/construction engineering – entry professional up 12.1 per cent

6. General engineering – entry professional up 11.4 per cent

7. Environmental engineering – experienced professional up 10 per cent

8. Civil/construction engineering – experienced professional up 9.5 per cent

9. Contact centre/online customer service – entry para-professional up 9.3 per cent

10. General repair and maintenance trades – entry para-professional up 8.1 per cent

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