Graduate salary survey reveals top-paying corporates in Australia

While most people’s pay packets might not be keeping up with inflation, certain companies are still paying eye-watering salaries to graduates straight out of uni.

It’s not called the Millionaires Factory for nothing.

Macquarie Capital is paying graduates $180,000 straight out of university, as is troubled Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse, a new report claims.

The anonymous graduate salary survey by business gossip website The Aussie Corporate received more than 600 submissions from 180-plus companies in corporate Australia, covering the “biggest and most competitive industries (including finance, consulting and law) in the graduate market”.

“Whilst most peoples’ pay may not necessarily be keeping up with inflation these days, grad salaries are still as competitive as ever,” the website wrote. “Our takeaway is that the war for talent is as fierce as ever.”

While stressing that the numbers were “anecdotal” and salaries “have not been verified”, the survey found graduate salaries ranged from $30,000 to $180,000. The median salary was $75,000.

“Sign-on bonuses were a bit more uncommon than last year,” it said.

“In law and finance, graduate salaries were typically uniform within the cohort. In [the] Big Four [accounting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC], there can be discrepancies depending on team, previous work experience, number of degrees etc. Geographical differences between cities were common with Sydney being the obvious city dishing out the leading salaries.”

The Macquarie Bank offices in Brisbane. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

Macquarie, the Australian financial juggernaut renowned for its lucrative remuneration arrangements, pays a graduate investment banker salary of $180,000, according to three respondents in the survey.

One added that they expect a $5000 to $10,000 bonus within the first three months and $10,000 to $20,000 a year later, plus a $2000 relocation allowance.

Macquarie has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, the highest graduate consultant salary in the survey was $105,000 at tech-focused Altman Solon, while Ashurst was the top-paying law firm at $108,000.

In February, global financial firm IMC Trading said it was offering 40 recent university graduates $200,000.

The package included a $125,000 base salary, a $25,000 sign-on and a $50,000 bonus if they make it past probation.

And in 2022, The Australian reported some companies were paying eye-watering graduate salaries of up to $350,000.

Earlier this year, the government-endorsed Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey revealed the median salary for Aussies with an undergraduate degree in 2022 was $68,000.

Workers on George Street in the Sydney CBD at lunch time. Picture: NCA NewsWire

In that survey, which had a sample size of more than 130,000 recent graduates, those who studied dentistry had the highest full-time salary straight out of university at $100,000.

The second highest paying graduate roles were in medicine, with a median salary of $79,000, followed by social work on $75,000.

The QILT survey also revealed the study areas that produced lower median salaries for graduates — these areas were pharmacy graduates, with a median salary of $52,000, tourism, hospitality, personal services, sport and recreation at $54,800 and creative arts at $56,000.

While they may not have the highest median pay, the graduates who were most likely to receive full-time employment were those who studied rehabilitation, with 96.5 per cent of respondents being employed full time, compared with 78 per cent overall.

The average annual salary in Australia is $94,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while the median is $65,000.

Wages data from the ABS last month showed inflation was still biting hard into the pay packets of Australian workers.

The latest Wage Prince Index saw wages increase by 3.7 per cent over the 12 months to the March quarter, still well below inflation at 7 per cent. “Measured over the past 12 months, workers have faced an average real wage cut of 3.3 per cent,” Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said.

Originally published as Graduate salary survey reveals top-paying corporates in Australia