By Jordan Summervill
There has never been a year for compensation at financial institutions like the one coming in 2023.
There is a projected 5% labor budget increase, a historical high that will likely be eye-watering for many. The average midpoint movement is projected to move up by 3.5%, leaving 1.5% to accomplish two important salary administration goals:
- Differentiate for higher performance
- Move the pay levels of employees whose salaries are less than the market rate
Based on our primary research, the following are the top 30 positions that have seen pay increases that are 150%-500% faster than the average annual market rate. Again, this is a historic year for compensation analysis. Based on 2023 projections, these salary figures attempt to correct a scorching labor market and record inflation.
All Levels of the Company
The Great Resignation is often thought of as mainly impacting non-exempt staff. While it will continue to be an issue for recruiting starting positions, the surprising truth is that 1 out of 3 of the fastest-growing salaries are from jobs in the top 25% of your salary grade structure. For example, Chief Risk Officer was the fastest-growing salary last year, and while still on this list, this year it ranked 26th place.
Loan Departments Are Thriving
Nearly 25% of the fastest-growing salaries were from the Mortgage department. Primarily driven by the Federal Reserve’s response to inflation and an exceptionally low-interest rate, demand for these roles may cool in the short term as home buyers wait for interest rates and pricing to return to levels we have grown used to over the past five years.
Commercial Loan Officers and Processors join the list with a salary movement 200% faster than the average for the industry. The Consumer Loan Processor position has made the list for the second year. This position is typically a Grade 6 and requires only a high school degree and approximately one year of experience. Notably, the “hottest jobs” in the Loan department include both production and support positions.
IT Positions Remain Key
IT positions within the organization remain in high demand across multiple industries, making it more competitive to recruit and retain than ever before. Within this key area of support, the following positions made the list of fastest-growing salaries:
- Systems Admin
- Network Administrator
- Chief Information Officer
- IT Business Analyst
Additionally, there are unique and highly technical IT positions showing up at banks and credit unions that we have not seen in the past 20 years, including Full Stack Software Developer, Scrum Master, Sr. Business Systems Analysts, Salesforce Administrator, and more.
The Labor Market Makes Their Demands Clear.
Workers remain scarce, and the need to cater to workers will be more critical than ever. According to an SHRM report from earlier this year,
“This is the tightest labor market in the country’s history. Large manufacturers are offering health care and 401(k) on day one, large signing bonuses, and above-market rates, and they’re still coming up short.”
Research shows that employees do not want high-stress work environments with subjective performance criteria to measure their contributions. They are not accepting lagging wages that fail to ever reach the midpoint. They want benefits that match their current lifestyle and work/life balance needs. What will it take to be a successful employer? Is it culture? Wage? Benefits? Remote work? Diversity? Yes, to all of the above.
It can be overwhelming for the most diligent HR manager to deal with the confluence of strong market forces, regardless of their institution’s strength. Equipping HR Managers and Executives with the resources they need to succeed will spearhead their workforce to excellence in critical times. A 2023 labor budget under 5% means HR will spend needless hours recruiting, onboarding and retraining.
According to 2022-2023 BalancedComp Salary & Incentive Survey research, these are the 30 fastest-growing salaries by job title in the financial sector for the upcoming year:
Fastest Moving Jobs | Avg Percentage Increase |
Head of HR | 17.8% |
IT Business Analysts | 17.0% |
Mortgage Originators | 14.25% |
Digital Marketing Specialist | 13.40% |
Trust Officer | 13.02% |
Senior Project Manager | 11.22% |
Head of Mortgages | 10.44% |
Head of Marketing | 9.97% |
Chief Info Officer | 9.88% |
Mortgage Closers | 9.05% |
Network Administrator | 8.72% |
Marketing Specialist | 8.64% |
Help Desk Specialist | 8.54% |
Credit Analyst II | 7.91% |
Mortgage Processors | 7.90% |
Mortgage Loan Officer (base) | 7.81% |
Commercial Loan Manager | 7.77% |
Commercial Loan Processor | 7.63% |
CFO | 7.54% |
Collector II | 7.53% |
Mortgage Loan Officer (commission) | 7.23% |
Graphic Designer | 7.07% |
Systems Administrator | 7.06% |
BSA Analyst | 6.88% |
Trainer | 6.84% |
Consumer Loan Processor | 6.79% |
Market President | 6.37% |
Mortgage Loan Officer | 6.30% |
Head of Risk (number one highest last year) | 6.19% |
Collector I | 5.93% |
CLO | 5.59% |
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