Professionals split over KiwiSaver

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Finance and accounting professionals are split over KiwiSaver, with almost half of them not contributing to the scheme, according to results from a survey carried out by recruitment firm Robert Half.

Thursday, April 16th 2009, 7:20AM

But a surprising number of employers appear willing to contribute more than the legal minimum to employees’ accounts.

The 2009 Robert Half Auckland Salary Survey shows 47% of finance and accounting workers do not intend to contribute to KiwiSaver, while 41% already do and another 12% expect to start doing so in the next six months.

More than a fifth (21%) of employees said they would accept a slightly lower salary in return for increased KiwiSaver contributions from their employer.

In the first salary survey of finance and accounting employees since the National Government’s changes to the scheme, 30% of respondents said the decrease in minimum contributions from 4% to 2% of wages and salaries made KiwiSaver more affordable. However, 41% of the almost 1000 finance professionals surveyed said the decrease in compulsory employer contributions to 2%, and changes in government contributions, made it less attractive.

Under the previous Labour Government scheme, compulsory contributions would have risen to 4% by April 2011, but the National Government has capped them at 2%.

Even so, the survey showed 82% of those who are in the scheme put the previous minimum of 4% of their wages or salary into KiwiSaver, and 84% of them intend to keep doing so. Only 11% are planning to cut their contributions to 2%, while 3% are planning to increase their contributions to 8%.

At the time of the online Robert Half survey, in January and February this year, a surprising percentage said their employers were contributing more than the then legal minimum of 1% to KiwiSaver accounts. Compulsory employer contribution rose to 2% on Wednesday, April 1.

Almost three-quarters of those surveyed (74%) said their employers were already contributing 2% while 23% said their employers were contributing 4%.

Robert Half senior manager Megan Alexander said the survey showed that KiwiSaver had become a major part of the remuneration package for finance and accounting professionals, and employers needed to seriously consider what they had to offer.

“Robert Half always encourages candidates and employers to be flexible when negotiating pay and benefits, and the finding that 21% of employees would accept a slightly lower salary for increased KiwiSaver contributions offers employers another option for flexibility,” she said.

“Employers should also bear in mind that a significant proportion of their competition for skilled staff are, even now, offering employees more than the compulsory minimum 2% contributions. But they also need to consider what they have to offer staff who choose not to contribute to KiwiSaver.”

Alexander said the survey pointed out that even though New Zealand’s talent shortage was no longer as severe as it had been in previous years, top talent in the finance and accounting sector was still very difficult to attract.

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