Published on the 31/07/2025 | Written by Heather Wright

And the staff gearing up to walk…

Salaries for some technology professionals are up on both sides of the Tasman, with those increases continuing this year – but there’s a solid gap between the two countries, and it’s one that’s leading many on one side of the Tasman to seek greener pastures.

Absolute IT’s IT Salary and Benefits Guide, which combines data from 1,000+ tech professionals and employers across New Zealand, shows just 46 percent of Kiwi tech professionals received a pay increase last year.

“We are moving away from reactive, short term hiring towards a more strategic mindset.”

But the report shows that 2025 is a year of financial restraint and continued caution around remuneration, with just four percent of tech employers flagging they’re expecting to provide pay increases of more than six percent this year. Ten percent of tech professionals, on the other hand, are expecting an increase of more than six percent, and more than a third are expecting increases of at least two percent. For many, those increases look likely to be between two to six percent – that’s the figure cited by 40 percent of employers.

All up, 60 percent of employers are planning pay increases for their teams. Budget pressure is the leading reason among those not planning any increases.

It’s a mismatch Absolute IT says risks disengagement if expectations aren’t managed.

“Tech employers can bridge expectation gaps with open pay conversations, regular benchmarking and clear visibility of non-financial benefits.”

On that matter of non-financial benefits, despite all the talk, salary does remain the number one reason tech professionals accept or decline job offers – well ahead of other factors, such as career development opportunities, more interesting/challenging work and better work-life balance, which are the top three non-financial factors which influence accepting new job offers.

The accompanying 2025 IT Job Market report also notes that while 85 percent of tech professionals say they’re happy in their roles, 61 percent are still considering a move – and the lure of greener pastures is strong: 28 percent are actively considering moving overseas, putting the ‘brain drain’ firmly back on the radar.

That’s backed by Stats NZ figures which showed a net migration loss to Australia in 2024 of 30,000 people and 124,500 departures to all destinations in the year to May 2024 – provisionally the highest migrant departure rates on record.

For tech professionals, Absolute IT says the lure is the higher salaries and broader career opportunities seen in larger international tech hubs.

That’s hardly surprising when you look at the figures in Hay’s Salary Guide FY25/26, which shows IT professionals salaries were up nearly 10 percent in the past year, and with just under 10 percent of tech organisations planning significant pay increases of up to 20 percent in the next year.

When it comes to the jobs with the biggest pay packets, the ‘typical’ salary for a CISO in NSW, Victoria and ACT is AU$280,000, dropping down $260,000 in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. If you’re a CISO in Tasmania, the figure drops to $220,000, while in the Northern Territory it’s down to $200,000. Spare a thought though for your Kiwi CISO counterparts, who have a typical salary of NZ$220,000.

Cyber security roles in general pulled in bigger bucks. Project/Transformation directors were averaging AU$285,000 in NSW (and NZ$200,000 in Auckland and Wellington, with Absolute IT putting the NZ range between $180,000 and $300,000).

CIOs in NSW were pulling in $306,000 on average while a chief data offer’s pay pack was a healthy $250,000 in NSW and NZ$230,000 in Auckland (Absolute IT: $225,000-$370,000).

Oracle roles will earn you from the lower $100,000s to $200,000 for architects and functional and test consultants, with Dynamics 365 skills also resulting in similar pay packets.

SAP admins, developers and test analysts are also in the lower to mid- $100,000 across both countries, while SAP architects, and functional and technical consultants score up to $200,000 on average, in NSW.

When it comes to the roles most in demand, look no further than cybersecurity analysts, architects, data analysts/engineers, business analysts and cloud/DevOps engineers, according to Hays.

The ongoing challenge of training and upskilling

Absolute IT’s job market report highlights the ongoing issue of lack of upskilling opportunities: Just 14 percent of tech employers offer structured, ongoing training – despite development being a top reason for employees staying (or leaving).

For tech professionals most training available to them was on a case-by-case basis or occasional access to internal or external workshops, training, seminars or courses. For 12 percent, there were opportunities, time off or funding to pursue external training, and just 13 percent had access to a structured program with regular training.

Bringing through new blood is also an ongoing challenge. Seventeen percent of tech employers said they have a well-established internship program, while six percent said they have opportunities for recent grads with a dedicated onboarding process. However, 64 percent admitted having no specific programs for interns or graduates.

None of the reports drill into specifics around age of IT employees and their expectations, though 48 percent of those surveyed for the Absolute IT reports had more than 15 years’ experience in the industry with 43 percent of respondents aged 45 or older.

That’s an interesting stat at a time when a report from the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian HR Institute suggests many employers are sidelining experienced professionals.

Older and Younger Workers: What Do Employers Think? says despite 55 percent of respondents reporting hard-to-fill vacancies, just 56 percent were open to hiring workers aged 50-64 ‘to a large extent’. The figure drops to 28 percent for those 65 and over with more than one in six saying they won’t hire in this age group (which incidentally, made up two percent of IT tech professionals in the Absolute IT survey).

The news for those in the younger age bracket wasn’t that great either, with the report finding just 41 percent were open to recruiting jobseekers aged 15-24 ‘to a large extent’.

The Absolute IT IT Job Market Report notes that despite the turbulence in the Kiwi market, early 2025 has brought a sense of cautious optimism, with signs of recovery as hiring picks up and new projects are launched or reactivated.

“This transition signals a meaningful shift. We are moving away from reactive, short term hiring towards a more strategic mindset, where tech employers are aligning talent acquisition with long-term goals,” the report says.

Now, it says, organisations are focusing on resilience, adaptability and the ability to keep pace with fast-moving change.