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If you’re an electrician by trade, working in a data centre has fantastic benefits for you. Find out how to use your skills in this exciting industry.

Are you paying your team enough? Money talks regardless of market conditions, and with the cost of living increasing, you can bet that salary is now the primary consideration for candidates and employees. As data centre recruitment in Australia is a niche and highly competitive market at the best of times, this is a question every employer must pay attention to. Several factors are placing upward pressure on construction salaries: the economic environment, record employment growth in the sector, and a strong pipeline for data centre projects that require specialist skill sets. Approximately 183,000 square kilometres of data centre construction is currently underway in Australia, according to CBRE data , with future growth linked to the rise of AI applications and gaming clouds. General inflation is also starting to bite. In 2023, the Avdiev Report forecasts salary increases between 1-5% slated for 70% of roles in the property sectors (including construction and project management), with pay rises of 6% and above for 30% of jobs. We’ll highlight the significant signs you’re not paying your team enough and what steps to take to avoid underpaying your employees. The Company Is Frequently Out Bid on Job Offers Does your organisation often find itself about to bring a candidate over the line with a shiny new job offer, only to find out at the eleventh hour that the candidate has chosen another role? Whether or not the candidate cites salary as the reason for turning down the offer, chances are that salary was the deciding factor. This proper preparation can help you avoid stumbling into this trap. Before recruitment starts, run a benchmarking exercise to compare the company’s salaries to the market average (or median), and what competitors are likely paying. If you need to argue for increasing salary budgets for critical roles, being armed with this data will help you make it. To access more in-depth salary trends that aren’t online, engaging an agency specialising in data centre recruitment in Australia will help. Recruiters are regularly privy to a range of relevant job descriptions, along with job offers and counteroffers, all of which are rich sources of market intelligence. Low Interest In Advertised Positions One of the common signs that you’re not paying your team enough appears at the front end of the recruitment process. While not all talent attraction challenges are linked to salary, pay does become critical wherever demand for specific skills or positions is high, and supply is limited. If your company would like more applicants for roles but isn’t finding them, consider whether your job ads have enough detail. Including the salary range in job ads can encourage more qualified people to apply while acting as an effective screening tool. Emphasising other perks, such as bonuses and non-salary benefits, is also essential for attracting good talent. Overall, it’s sensible to highlight the company’s generous remuneration and other great reasons to work there. Candidates will always compare positions based on competitive compensation and opportunities for growth. Staff Retention Is Poor Has the front door started to swing so much that it’s revolving? Poor retention can have more than one cause, but any uptick in resignations is a warning light that usually calls for evaluating current salaries. If employees are exiting the business within months of starting a new role or are being headhunted, these could be signs you’re not paying your team enough. Have your employees' roles and responsibilities evolved since their initial hiring? If their duties have expanded significantly without a corresponding salary increase, they are likelier to embrace a new role and score an instant pay rise. Word Is Getting Around If gossip about the company’s apparent stinginess is reaching the ears of management, that’s a vital clue that remuneration may be misaligned with the market. Rather than allowing negative talk to start driving away employees, getting in front of these concerns as quickly as possible is better. Listening to employee concerns and taking notes is a wise place to start addressing this issue. Employee satisfaction surveys and one-on-one conversations will help you gauge sentiment about salaries. These conversations can support pay reviews and help you take necessary steps to avoid losing valuable employees. Summary So, are you paying your team enough? While the answer can make managers uncomfortable, it’s always worth asking! Regularly reviewing pay and understanding trends influencing construction salaries will help you build loyal teams and spend less time on recruitment. For expert help with finding the right talent, salary advice and retention strategies, you may contact the friendly team at Mission Critical. As leading specialists in data centre recruitment in Australia, we can help you solve your talent problems and devise a pay strategy that ticks all the boxes. Check out our latest report here for in-depth salary trends relevant to data centre hiring.

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