‘Unrealistic’ candidate demands continue to soar

The majority of employers are being hit with “unrealistic demands” when trying to hire new staff.

Robert Half’s 2023 Salary Guide, which has dropped today (6 March), has revealed candidates are continuing to make what employers classify as “unrealistic demands” during the hiring process.

The research found 61 per cent of Australian employers have had a candidate request an unrealistic salary in the past 12 months, with these candidates requesting an average of 16 per cent above the salary initially offered to them.

Medium-sized employers were the most likely to encounter unrealistic salary demands in the past 12 months (66 per cent), followed by large employers (62 per cent) and small-business employers (56 per cent).

Of all the states and territories, NSW employers were most likely to encounter unreasonable demands, with almost seven in 10 (68 per cent) business leaders receiving unrealistic salary requests. Queensland employers received the least, with about half (53 per cent) citing this trend, the report flagged.

The employer reaction

Despite higher candidate expectations, employers appear to be holding firm when it comes to what they’re willing to fork out for employees.

While 41 per cent of candidates were successful in securing more than was originally offered, 59 per cent were not, with 22 per cent of candidates accepting the initial salary offered, 23 per cent not accepting the original offer, and 14 per cent of employers even withdrawing their offer because of the unrealistic expectation of the candidate.

That being said, those candidates who were able to negotiate a higher pay were able to secure an average of 10 per cent higher than the original offer, yet 6 per cent lower than the average requested amount.

Commenting off the back of the report, David Jones, senior managing director at Robert Half Asia-Pacific, said the findings demonstrate that some candidates still have significant bargaining power to receive a salary higher than originally offered, but this may not last much longer as employers seem less likely to allocate higher salaries going into 2023.

“A candidate-driven market in 2022 has created an environment in which many candidates still expect to receive high salaries in 2023. However, with more businesses being cautious about an economic downturn, with many focused on cost management, only those who have the very highest in-demand skills – such as financial partnering, financial modelling, and big data analytics, or those who work in technology DevOps and cyber security roles – may find they can negotiate for larger salary increments,” Mr Jones said.

“Taking this further, 2023 will be a year where the candidate’s bargaining power has started to rebalance, and it will become rarer to see high percentage increases for both candidates who move companies and those who stay with existing employers.”