There has never been a year for compensation at financial institutions like the one coming in 2023.

BalancedComp is projecting a 5% labor budget increase – a historical high that may be eye-watering for many institutions. We project that the average midpoint movement will move up by 3.5%, which leaves 1.5% left to accomplish two important salary administration goals for institutions:
1. Differentiate for higher performance.
2. Move the pay levels of employees whose salaries are below the market rate.

Below, we’ve compiled the top 30 positions that have seen pay increases that are 150% to 500% faster than the average annual market rate, based on our primary research. 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.

Many executives think of the Great Resignation as mainly impacting non-exempt staff. While this continues to be an issue for recruiting starting, or entry level, positions, the surprising truth is that one out of three of the fastest-growing salaries are from jobs in the top 25% of your salary grade structure. For example, our research indicates that chief risk officer was the fastest-growing salary in 2021; while still on this list, this year it ranked 26th place.

Loan Departments Are Thriving
By comparison, nearly 25% of the fastest-growing salaries at financial institutions were related to the mortgage department. But demand for these roles may cool in the short term, as home buyers wait for interest rates and pricing to return to levels closer to the historical averages in the past five years.

Commercial loan officers and processors join the list, with a salary movement that is 200% faster than the average for the industry. For the second year, the consumer loan processor position has made the list. 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
Internal IT positions remain in high demand across multiple industries, making it more competitive to recruit new personnel and retain existing employees than ever before. Within this key area of support, there are several positions that appear on the list of fastest-growing salaries:
u2022 Systems administrator
u2022 Network administrator
u2022 Chief information officer
u2022 IT business analyst

Additionally, there are unique and highly technical IT positions that are starting to show up at banks that we have not seen in the past 20 years. These include full stack software developer, scrum master, senior business systems analyst, Salesforce administrator and more.

Clear Labor Market Demands
Workers remain scarce; it will be more critical than ever for banks to address the needs of of their employees. According to a report this year from SHRM, “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.”

Most employees do not seek out high stress work environments that use subjective performance criteria to measure their contributions. They are no longer accepting lagging wages that fail to ever reach the salary 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? Wages? Benefits? Remote work? Diversity? Yes to all of the above.

It can be overwhelming for even the most diligent human resource 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 no matter the economic or operating environment. 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 Average 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 (No. 1 highest in 2021) 6.19%
Collector I 5.93%
Chief Loan Officer 5.59%

WRITTEN BY

Christie Summervill

Chief Executive Officer

Christie Summervill is the CEO at BalancedComp, LLC., a salary and compensation firm that specializes in salary administration for banks and credit unions across the country, using expertly crafted web applications and highly valued HR consultants with experience in HR management in banking. She is the nation’s leading expert on salary and compensation for the financial industry.