The wage price index from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the wage price index experienced a 2.7 per cent annual growth in median wages in the private sector in June, but the Employment Hero data found WPI was closer to 7.9 per cent year-on-year.
The results came from comparing data from Employment Hero clients against the ABS wage price index and reports on the median hourly rate of pay for Employment Hero and KeyPay users and the percentage change over time.
It also considers penalty rates, bonuses and allowances to provide a more holistic picture of SME wage data.
According to the Employment Hero index, year-on-year median wages increased overall by +7.9 per cent in September 2022 and by +1.0 per cent over the last month. In September, the median hourly rate for employees working in Australian SMEs was $35.00.
As of September 2022, the average number of employees among Australian SMEs was 15.1 points more than in January 2019, but the growth from August to September 2022 was marginal at 0.5 points.
While year-on-year comparisons showed SMEs are still growing, the pace of growth continues to stagnate.
The data found that compared to the previous year (September 2021), SMEs of all sizes have reported growth. However, small enterprises continued to struggle, displaying month-on-month stagnation, while for medium and larger SMEs, the pace of growth continues to slow.
Smaller enterprises (1–19 employees) grew by +7.2 per cent in the past year (September 2021), but employee size did not grow (zero per cent) from the previous month (August 2022).
Medium enterprises (20–199 employees) on the other hand, experienced modest employee growth in the past month (+0.7 per cent) and grew by +24.2 per cent in employees compared to September 2021.
Larger enterprises (200+ employees) experienced the biggest growth in employee numbers, +31.0 per cent since September 2021, and +0.9 per cent since August 2022.
SMEs in construction & trade services saw no change (zero per cent) since August 2022, however, the sector experienced growth in employment since September 2021 (+7.1 per cent). SMEs in science, information & communication technology industries marginally declined month-on-month (-0.1 per cent), but have experienced a growth of +6.4 per cent from the previous year (September 2021).
SMEs in retail, hospitality & tourism grew in employee numbers by +0.2 per cent since August 2022, and also grew by +10.6 per cent since September 2021. SMEs in healthcare & community services grew in employee numbers by +0.1 per cent since August 2022 and grew by +11.0 per cent since September 2021.
SMEs in manufacturing, transport & lLogistics grew in employee numbers by +0.2 per cent since August 2022 and grew by +7.2 per cent since September 2021.
Wages of employees in small enterprises (1–19 employees) grew the least by +4.4 per cent. The biggest growth is seen among employees in medium enterprises (20–199 employees) at +6.7 per cent, and employees in large enterprises (200+ employees) at +6.9 per cent.
