More than half of Australian financial services staff received salary increases in the past year, keeping pay rates competitive with the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

But this doesn’t mean firms should relax, with regional competition for financial services staff likely to return as markets rebound and growth increases.

Financial recruitment firm Robert Half’s 2010 Asia-Pacific salary survey of 906 industry professionals found 53% of financial services staff in Australia received an increase in salary over the past year.

This was on par with 54% of employees from Hong Kong and 52% of staff in Singapore, and well above the 27% of staff who received raises in Japan.

Across the region most firms offered staff pay rises between 0%-3% over the last year.

Robert Half Director Andrew Brushfield says these results mean Australian firms are less likely to lose staff to more lucrative jobs overseas.

“Typically Asian countries like Hong Kong and Singapore have offered greater financial incentives to financial services staff based on salary level and lower tax rates, which is why there was often a flux of people leaving our shores, but the downturn quickly changed this,” he said.

“But differences between the markets, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, are likely to unfold as growth returns.

“This will make overseas markets once again more attractive to finance staff, which is why employers need to start thinking about their retention strategies.”

These strategies should include a strong focus on non-financial incentives, with 49% of employees surveyed saying they would find leadership and management skills training most valuable at this point in their career.