Pay is up but morale is down for Australia's scientists, says report

Professional Scientists Australia, in conjunction with Science & Technology Australia (STA), has released the 2016 Professional Scientists Employment and Remuneration Report. Based on the results of a national survey, the report provides an overview of the pay and conditions of scientists across Australia — with somewhat concerning results.

The report shows that in the past year, average remuneration for scientists has increased by 2.4%, outperforming both the cost of living (1%) and the Wage Price Index (2.1%). However, more than one-third (32.9%) of respondents to the survey had received no pay increase in the previous year and the gender pay gap apparently persists, with women scientists’ salaries averaging 83% of men’s.

While 46.5% of scientists surveyed reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their current level of remuneration, 35.2% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Of the 34.8% of respondents who said they were considering leaving their current job, contributing factors included pay, lack of professional development opportunities and lack of work-life balance.

Cost-cutting paired with uncertainty of funding from year to year has created particular concern about the overall capability of research organisations to continue to do good work, with 80.9% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that cost-cutting was affecting their organisation’s science capability. More than half (56.4%) of respondents said staff morale had declined in the past 12 months, and 61% said worker fatigue had increased.

Professionals Australia CEO Chris Walton said the survey findings raise concerns about the sustainability of the science and R&D workforce with what appeared to be some quite serious systemic workforce issues, stating, “We need to ensure we maintain a science and technology workforce with the necessary skills and experience to support knowledge-based investment and drive innovation.

“To do this, we need to ensure that science-based organisations have as part of their human resources packages equitable and effective recognition and reward strategies and a commitment to maintaining a strong science capability in management and decision-maker roles,” said Walton. “This is the only way we’ll attract the next generation of scientists to the profession.”

“If Australia is serious about driving innovation, improving wellbeing and shifting towards an R&D-based economy, we must invest properly in science capability — education, specialised equipment and infrastructure, and properly remunerated professional scientists and technologists,” added STA Chief Executive Kylie Walker.

“Many highly skilled researchers see science as a vocation and are passionate about their work, which is wonderful for Australia. We need to make sure they are supported to direct that passion and those high-level skills and knowledge to the best advantage for research and for Australia.”

The report can be downloaded in full or as a free summary from the Professionals Australia website.