How salaries have changed in South Africa: 2018 vs 2024

When job candidates are searching for work, salary offers are often a key factor in their decision-making process.

According to the October 2024 Pnet Job Market Trends Report, however, there is no consistent pattern of salary growth or decline across sectors in South Africa, highlighting significant fluctuations that reflect the dynamic job market.

“When looking at various job sectors and specific professional groups, it becomes clear that there is no overall pattern or trend in the growth of salary offers,” said Pnet.

“Aside from IT roles, each job sector reviewed shows fluctuating trends in salary growth,” it added.

Pnet explained that salaries usually depend on skill levels for specific hard and soft skills as well as years of experience in a particular role or job sector.

“Another crucial factor impacting salaries is supply and demand.

“Skills and professions in high demand, with a limited supply pool of talent, tend to receive higher paychecks compared to professions with an oversupply of talent,” added the company.

Looking at the findings, the report analyses salary trends in South Africa over the past six years, focusing on intermediate-level roles in Gauteng across:

• Engineering;
• Finance;
• Business & management;
• IT; and
• Admin sectors.

Engineering

Civil Engineer

• 2018: R48,628.30 to R58,605.56
• 2021: R55,666.67 to R73,630.95
• 2024: R52,466.67 to R64,277.78

Civil engineer salary bands increased from 2018 to 2021, but this has since declined.

However, over the last six years there has been an overall increase of 8-10% in salary offers for civil engineers since 2018.

Electrical Engineer

• 2018: R43,173.08 to R52,352.56
• 2021: R33,910.26 to R41,884.62
• 2024: R49,215.84 to R60,870.30

Salary offers for electrical engineers declined from 2018 to 2021, likely due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns.

However, this has increased to a new high in 2024, showing an average increase of 14% to 16% over six years.

Structural Engineer

• 2018: R46,496.21 to R61,031.75
• 2021: R44,437.50 to R46,729.17
• 2024: R41,526.11 to R54,027.78

Structural engineers also experienced salary decreases from 2018 to 2021, also linked to the pandemic.

Unlike their electrical engineer counterparts, the decline continued to 2024, resulting in an 11% decrease over six years.

Finance

Accountant

• 2018: R36,675.40 to R43,846.54
• 2021: R33,310.23 to R40,957.73
• 2024: R35,889.26 to R44,237.52

“Although salary offers for accountants dropped from 2018 to 2021, hardly any change in salary offers is evident when comparing 2018 to 2024,” said Pnet.

Bookkeeper

• 2018: R17,874.62 to R21,102.20
• 2021: R18,349.25 to R22,490.86
• 2024: R19,920.29 to R24,918.52

Bookkeepers have experienced steady salary growth over the past six years, with offers increasing by 11% to 18% since 2018.

Financial Controller

• 2018: R50,596.82 to R60,287.22
• 2021: R49,206.34 to R56,686.27
• 2024: R37,867.36 to R52,060.01

Unlike bookkeepers, financial controller roles have seen a continuous decline in salary offers since 2018. Over the past six years, salary offers for Financial Controllers have decreased by 24% to 25%.

Business & Management

Office Manager

• 2018: R17,322.22 to R26,268.52
• 2021: R23,133.33 to R26,821.43
• 2024: R23,163.89 to R30,205.56

The Pnet report highlights that salary offers for office managers have grown over the last six years.

Since 2018 (compared to 2024), salary offers for these roles have increased by between 15% and 34%.

Branch Manager

• 2018: R33,983.29 to R47,184.40
• 2021: R24,857.14 to R34,241.13
• 2024: R28,318.02 to R35,417.20

Salary offers for branch managers declined from 2018 to 2021, likely due to the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic and the associated lockdowns.

Since 2021, salary offers have seen a slight increase, though they are still below 2018 levels, remaining 17% to 25% lower.

General Manager

• 2018: R77,843.75 to R86,348.16
• 2021: R72,873.74 to R82,775.10
• 2024: R76,766.88 to R94,673.27

General managers experienced a decline in salary offers from 2018 to 2021, but have seen significant growth since then. Over the past six years, salary offers have increased by 10%.

Information Technology (IT)

Net Developer

• 2018: R37,741.17 to R50,287.57
• 2021: R45,000.00 to R54,561.27
• 2024: R38,696.08 to R51,958.33

Salary offers for Net Developers increased from 2018 to 2021, but have since declined. This decline follows a broader global trend of decreasing salaries for software developers.

“Comparing salary offers for net developers over the last six years, there has been minimal change,” said Pnet.

Data Analyst

• 2018: R35,180.85 to R44,730.07
• 2021: R36,524.38 to R44,440.79
• 2024: R36,195.65 to R45,638.89

Pnet explained that comparing salary offers for data analysts in 2024, 2021 and 2018, “there has been minimal change.”

IT Project Manager

• 2018: R45,246.67 to R56,929.08
• 2021: R53,622.97 to R80,225.57
• 2024: R43,902.23 to R55,955.13

Like net developers, IT project managers saw an increase in salary offers from 2018 to 2021, but these offers have since declined.

When comparing 2024 to 2018, salary offers for this role have remained relatively unchanged over the past six years.

Admin, Office & Support

Receptionist

• 2018: R9,841.93 to R12,811.67
• 2021: R12,836.38 to R14,511.95
• 2024: R11,385.94 to R13,822.83

Receptionists experienced a rise in salary offers from 2018 to 2021, followed by a slight decline. However, in 2024, salary offers for Receptionists are 8% to 16% higher than in 2018.

Office Administrator

• 2018: R12,988.41 to R16,416.17
• 2021: R12,582.09 to R16,020.83
• 2024: R14,980.33 to R20,050.00

According to Pnet, salary offers for Office Administrators remained relatively stable from 2018 to 2021.

However, since 2021, there has been notable growth, with salaries for office administrators in 2024 being 15% to 22% higher than in 2018.

Personal Assistant

• 2018: R18,984.65 to R23,383.78
• 2021: R18,922.22 to R22,916.67
• 2024: R16,375.00 to R21,622.55

“Salary offers for personal assistant have slowly decreased since 2018,” said Pnet.

Comparing 2024 and 2018, salary offers for personal assistant have decreased by between -14% and -8%.

The full report can be found here.

Read: These are the most in-demand jobs in South Africa right now