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The highest paying jobs in office support | Main Region | UB

The highest paying jobs in office support 2023 - 2024

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The office support sector continues to flourish as a direct beneficiary of the growth of other industries. When organisations experience growth, they require expanded administrative capabilities, and as a byproduct, office support roles are outsourced. In Victoria alone, 10,300 new employees will be needed to plug the skill gaps by 2025.

The projected growth of this sector means that there are now a range of roles present that are highly paid in order to fill the spaces that demand is creating.

While any career path shouldn’t be dictated solely by the salaries a role can offer, it’s always helpful to have an understanding of what different roles and industries can earn. It might even help you decide which way you’d like to steer your future career.

For organisations, being aware of the salaries the market is paying in your industry can help to drive your talent strategies and leave you well-positioned to attract the right talent.

The highest paying office support jobs in Australia in 2023 - 2024

We’ve pulled together the highest paying jobs for the office support sector based on findings in the latest Hays Salary Guide.

While most of the salaries listed here are for roles in Sydney, there are a few exceptions that we highlight.

Executive assistant (up to $125K)

Executive assistants (EAs) remain one of the highest paying roles in the office support sector, due to playing a key business role by directly supporting one executive with scheduling, prioritising, organising and completing administrative tasks among many others.

EAs are commonly one of the most highly valued and trusted members of an organisation, particularly to the executive that they work for directly, and are compensated accordingly, with wages reaching as high as $125K in Sydney and $120K in Perth. Salaries will remain high in major cities in Australia as executives juggle increasing workloads and need to remove the administrative tasks from their day-to-day function.

Personal assistants are the next highest paid administration professionals. As demand for their efforts is more evenly spread across multiple executives instead of just one, they can command an income of up to $100K in both Perth and Canberra.

In the same vein, in banking and finance support, investment banking personal assistants can earn salaries as high as $100K in Sydney, with typical salaries ranging from anywhere between $66K to $90K depending on the location.

Office manager (up to $110K)

The demand for office managers took a hit at the height of the pandemic as businesses shifted operations to enable employees to work remotely. Now as offices start to fill back up, even as hybrid working remains prevalent, the demand for office managers has risen again.

Unlike more junior office support roles, office managers require practical experience in other administrative roles and qualifications are valued highly. Critical to making an office run efficiently on a daily basis, office managers are charged with ensuring equipment is maintained and stocked, guests are greeted, supervising and managing office support professionals as well as taking on other additional administrative tasks.

It’s no surprise then that experienced and skilled office managers are highly valuable to organisations. In major cities such as Sydney, Perth and Canberra, salaries reach as a high as $110K.

Project coordinator ($90K)

Project managers remain the most in demand profession across multiple industries due to increased volume and complexity of projects organisations are undertaking. Project coordinators are beneficiaries of this heightened demand in the office support space, with salaries reaching up to $100K in both Perth and Canberra, while typically averaging $90K.

While project managers oversee the process, project coordinators assist team members and project leads to deliver on specific aspects of business projects in an effective manner, becoming an integral point of contact for the various groups that will be working together on major projects.

Legal secretary ($90K)

Office support professionals are the backbone of many industries, in particular the legal sector. These specialised roles usually require previous experience in a legal role, as well as tertiary qualifications in legal studies or other related fields.

Salaries for legal secretaries vary depending on their experience, and for legal secretaries with over four years’ experience, they can expect to typically see a salary of $90K. For those with two to four years’ experience, it is $75K and for those with less than two years’ experience, they will see around $75K as well on average.

For a legal personal assistant, they will commonly only need previous experience as a personal assistant elsewhere instead of having a relevant law qualification. A typical salary for this position is $80K but legal personal assistants in Melbourne can take home as much as $100K.

Site secretary/administrator (up to $130K)

The property and construction industries present a range of opportunities for office support roles, and in construction in particular, a high volume of projects being implemented means there will be continued demand for administrative roles in this sector as well.

Site secretaries or administrators can be rewarded thanks to this. Usually assisting the project manager, site administrators must ensure the site runs smoothly through a number of tasks such as rostering, reporting, data entry and more. For this the typical salary is $75K, but in Perth and Darwin, salaries can reach as high as $130K and $100K respectively.

Find more of Australia’s highest paying jobs

As you can see, there are plenty of options out there when it comes to high paying jobs in the office support sector. With other industries experiencing growth and needing to offset their support functions to further increase their capabilities, office support as an industry can reap the rewards. And with many entry-level roles in office support not requiring qualifications or previous experience, it can be an attractive industry to move into and start mapping out your career path towards these higher earning positions.

For more information on which jobs pay the most in Australia across other industries, and even more detail on the salaries for office support, download the Hays Salary Guide. Drawing on data from more than 14,000 respondents in Australia and New Zealand, the Hays Salary Guide extends far beyond salaries to offer market insights and emerging workforce trends for both employers and jobseekers alike.