Are Salesforce salaries still growing?
Australia’s tech services industry has been enjoying some exceptionally favourable conditions of late.
These boom times, driven by an accelerated uptake of new tech and migration to cloud based systems, and an acute skills shortage exacerbated by the global pandemic has created an environment where Salesforce experts have been commanding big salaries.
But with global and macroeconomic pressures beginning to bite, are the halcyon days over for tech?
Short answer: Not yet.
Real wages growth
With inflation soaring and the cost of living continuing to rise, the onus is on salaries to move in the same direction.
There’s a slight problem though private sector real wages in Australia have either been stagnant or going backwards since 2012. The National Minimum Wage increase will hope to make up some of this lost ground, with a 5.25% increase just coming into effect on July 1.
What does all of this mean for Salesforce related roles? It seems as though the healthy demand for tech services industry skills is bucking the trend of stagnant wages growth. I’m sure this would come as no surprise to candidates and employers, that salaries are consistently high and growing.
Some tech salaries have seen a nearly 50% rise in the past 12 months alone.
I’ve had a box seat in seeing how the trends have been moving over this time within the Salesforce ecosystem. To help illustrate this, I’ve broken it down into three core skill sets/roles across the roles I recruit for.
Here’s how things are looking:
Salesforce Developers
The driving force behind all Salesforce customisation and development, the Salesforce Developer is a linchpin to the successful outcome of projects. From coding, to unit testing, and application development, dev skills continue to be highly sought after in the local market.
In 2021, positions I was recruiting for were commanding salaries in the region of $120-140k + super.
In 2022, we’ve seen a healthy leap to $140-160k + super.
In terms of day rates, developers were making $800-900 last year, but are now looking at up to $1200 today and some, even more!
Salesforce Consultants
From managing the ever-important client relationship to mapping out business processes, Salesforce Consultants are another core role in consistently huge demand.
In 2021, similar to the average developer salaries, consultants could expect to be paid in the vicinity of $120-140k + super.
In 2022, this has also jumped up to $140-160k + super.
In terms of day rates, consultants who were making $800-900 last year can now expect up to $1000-1100 today.
Salesforce Architects
One of the fastest growing career paths in the ecosystem, demand for Salesforce Architects has exploded by nearly 1300% in the past five years. From defining business objectives to communicating priorities and achieving consensus, architects are the big picture thinkers that make it all happen.
In 2021, Salesforce Architects were on average taking home $160k-$180k+
In 2022, I’ve seen this jump to well over $180k + super!
In terms of day rates, I was placing architect roles at around $1100 last year, but that’s risen to anywhere over $1300 this year.
What does the short to medium term hold?
Being at the coalface of recruitment, what I’ve experienced is certainly in line with what the rest of the industry is experiencing with Salesforce wages growth.
What’s more, the above average salaries are being far exceeded on a role by role basis in some instances, but I’m confident that it’s all equating to a 15-20% increase in permanent salaries.
Obviously, these figures are clearly way ahead of real wages growth in the country, so the industry is in very good health. It’s not an island though, so just as we saw impacts from the pandemic, there will be flow-on effects from the current domestic and global influences.
I’m confident that the tech services industry is in a better position than any to keep growing, and with it, Salesforce salaries.
What’s your experience been like?
~Garth Kharitou
