USA 
United Kingdom
With the war for talent reaching fever pitch in 2023, it’s unsurprising that new data from the US Bureau of Labor this week discovered that several industries are paying their workers well above the national average.
In fact, the data found that salaries across the nation are growing in all sectors, with the average annual salary of American workers being approximately $62,000, up from just over $61,000 in 2022 and $60,575 in 2021.
Following the ongoing effects of the pandemic and an uncertain economic outlook, the 2021 rate represented the biggest jump in annual pay since it reached the $50,000-level.
The US Bureau of Labor is based on data collected from various industries, including healthcare, education, manufacturing, and finance.
Pay disparity | Young LGBT+ staff earning less than straight peers
When digging into specific industries, the study shows that the highest-paying industry in the US is healthcare, with an average annual salary of $78,000. Education and manufacturing are not far behind, with average salaries of $72,000 and $69,000, respectively.
The finance industry also continues to offer highly competitive salaries, with an average of $68,000 per year. On the other side of the pay scale, the lowest-paying industry is the hospitality sector, with an average annual salary of $34,000.
Hospitality is followed by the retail and food services industries, which also have relatively low average salaries, at $36,000 and $29,000, respectively.
The study also cemented what we already know to be true; certain factors, such as education level and experience, can significantly impact an individual's salary. For instance, workers with a bachelor's degree earn an average of $30,000 more per year than those with only a high school diploma.
Similarly, those with ten or more years of experience in their industry earn an average of $20,000 more than their less experienced counterparts.
It seems that, with top talent in extremely high demand, it’s specific jobs or function that are pushing employers to pay well above the preconceived average going rate.
Management roles, for example now have an average pay of $131,200 per year, whilst those within the legal field can expect to earn an average of $124,540 per year in 2023.
Yet, it’s executives who are finding that their skills are paying dividends when it comes to renumeration. The average S&P 500 company’s CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 324-to-1 in 2021, and has since jumped up to an eye watering 670-to-1, according to the Institute for Policy Studies.
