ESG professionals' salary guide revealed

Increasing demand for a better work-life balance has seen many ESG professionals looking to make a job switch, the newest Kaizen Recruitment salary guide found.

The survey found there were multiple reasons why an ESG professional might be considering a role change.

Salary increases and career development continued to be leading motivators, with 37% and 39% respectively. But on the rise, was the desire for flexible working arrangements.

Kaizen said it was predicting that the desire for better work-life balance would continue to increase.

In terms of average salaries, depending on the level of experience and seniority salaries ranged from $79,000 to $350,000 per year.

Junior analysts were the bottom rung with the average income, including superannuation but excluding bonuses, bringing in $79,000. The highest gross income for a junior analyst was $90,000.

Analysts receive an average income of $111,000, with the highest gross income reported at $154,000. Senior analysts had an average salary of $162,000, with the highest coming in at $244,000.

Managers received an average salary of $204,000, with the highest reported being $250,000. Senior managers received an average salary of $250,000, with the highest reported being $345,000.

The average salary for a 'head of' role was $327,000 with the highest coming in at $601,000. Directors and board members get an average salary of $350,000, with the highest reported at $501,000.

The average bonus for a junior analyst was $3000, jumping to $19,000 for an analyst and $33,000 for a senior analyst.

Managers received an average bonus of $30,000 while senior managers were awarded $69,000.

Heads of teams received an average bonus of $118,000, while directors and board members received $120,000 on average.

"Regarding bonuses, approximately 73% of professionals in the industry indicated eligibility for financial bonuses," Kaizen said.

"Among the 73% of those with eligibility for bonus potential, 90% received a portion of their total bonus entitlement. Notably, bonus structures tend to be more prevalent from the analyst level up to the head of team, with the percentage of potential bonus increasing with seniority."

Additional employee benefits reported by participants were salary sacrificing, extra leave, income protection, study costs being covered, share options, work phones, volunteer leave, a compressed work week and flexible hours.