The highest paying jobs in office support 2023 - 2024
The office support sector continues to grow as a direct beneficiary of the growth of other industries. When organisations experience growth, they require expanded administrative capabilities, and as a by-product, office support roles are outsourced. Employment numbers for office managers are forecast to increase by 8,937 by the year 2028, and with vacancies common but competition high in the office support industry, it presents an attractive career path with plenty of future growth.
The projected development 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 earn, it’s helpful to have an understanding of what different roles and industries can earn. It might 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 New Zealand in 2023 - 2024
The Hays Salary Guide gives insight into recruitment trends and provides salary data for hundreds of jobs across New Zealand. Based on this data, we’ve been able to collate a list of the highest paying office support roles.
Unless stated otherwise, all the salaries listed will be for professionals in Auckland. While Auckland typically dominates in average salary, sometimes the highest paying roles can be found across Wellington and Christchurch.
Unless stated otherwise, all the salaries listed will be for professionals in Auckland. While Auckland typically dominates in average salary, sometimes the highest paying roles can be found across Wellington and Christchurch.
You can find salaries for other locations and roles in office support in the full Hays Salary Guide.
Executive assistant (up to $90K)
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 directly for, and are compensated accordingly, with wages reaching as high as $90K.
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 $80K on average.
In the same vein, in banking and finance support, investment banking personal assistants can earn salaries as high as $77K in Auckland.
Office manager (up to $85K)
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 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, with salaries reaching as high as $85K in Wellington.
Project coordinator ($71K)
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 averaging $71K in Wellington but reaching as high as $75K.
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 ($75K)
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 $75K in Wellington. For those with two to four years’ experience, it is $70K and for those with less than two years’ experience, they will see around $68K 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 can be as much as $85K in both Auckland and Wellington.
Contracts administrator (up to $71K)
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.
Contracts administrators can be rewarded with a high potential salary. Assisting in managing the contractual aspects of construction projects, contracts administrators prepare and review contracts, work to establish terms, resolve disagreements and ensure contract compliance. For this the typical salary is $63K, but salaries can reach as high as $71K.
Find more of New Zealand’s highest paying jobs
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.
Download the Hays Salary Guide for more insights on salaries across New Zealand’s top industries, plus even more detail on office support salaries. 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.