Benefits February 23, 2006

Late Hiring Surge Could Bump Financial Pros Starting Salaries

February 23, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A recent flood of financial professional job vacancy postings on the CareerBank job site suggests those professionals may be able to enjoy a salary uptick for new hires this year, CareerBank said in a news release.
Reported by

A CareerBank news release said that there has been a recent jump in the number of hiring organizations posting help-wanted ads — up by about 20% January 2006 compared to January 2005. That was one conclusion from the recruiting company’s 2005 annual salary survey that showed a continued income gap between men and women while also pinpointing a discrepancy in income growth between younger workers and more senior ones.

Across the board, salaries for accountants, insurance executives, bankers and other financial professionals remained essentially flat in 2005, the company said in the announcement.

Other highlights included:

  • Overall, 2005 salaries remained mostly flat, with respondents reporting an average decrease of (a statistically insignificant) 1%;
  • A wide discrepancy evident in income changes between entry-level workers (up an average of 12%) and those individuals at the executive and partner levels (an average 10% decrease);
  • Women earned 21% less than men for similar positions, though that gap fell 4% last year;
  • The survey also indicated that the use of online career sites to find employment rose 5% from last year, while the use of newspapers dropped 4%.

The CareerBank.com salary survey is based on responses from more than 6,500 users of its online service. Participants were asked about their 2005 incomes.

The report may be viewed here .

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