Otago average annual salaries rose 4% in the year ended June but the region remains near the bottom of the table as far as average salaries go, data released yesterday indicated.
Online employment company Seek data said annual average salaries for jobs listed on its website increased by $1674, or $94 per month after tax, in the year ended June.
Average salaries had grown in the year but only by 2.3% across the board, with the national average advertised salary now $74,965.
However, the Otago average advertised salary, while rising 4% in the year, was $63,185, up from $60,744 in June last year.
That placed the region 14th out of 15 New Zealand regions covered by Seek.
Marlborough, with an average advertised salary of $61,373, was bottom.
In the South Island, Canterbury, Southland, the West Coast and Tasman were all above Otago and Marlborough.
The top five highest paid regions were Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury, Taranaki and Waikato.
Seek New Zealand general manager Janet Faulding said the modest growth across New Zealand was despite the reported drop in business confidence and slowing economic indicators.
Numerous factors influenced where people chose to work - from flexible working arrangements to a company's value proposition and employer reputation.
''But it doesn't diminish the reality people still demand a competitive salary and one that recognises their skills and contributions.''
Ms Faulding encouraged employers to take a balanced look when it came to deciding to increase pay.
Giving performing employees a pay increase was often a ''somewhat inconsequential cost'' to the business compared with replacing them if they left.
It was accepted across human resourcing that it typically cost businesses three times as much to fill roles, once loss of productivity, time to hire and resource to retrain were factored in, she said.
''From a pure cost perspective, it makes complete sense to reward your employees with a competitive remuneration package or performance bonus if they are a standout performer.''
Consulting and strategy roles were, on average, the highest-paid roles advertised.
They experienced a 2% increased in advertised salary to give an average salary of $99,046.
Engineering was next on $92,479, followed by construction on $92,142, ICT on $92,082 and mining, resources and energy on $91,506, the only one of the top five to show a fall.
