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Almost half of finance and accounting professionals do not contribute to the KiwiSaver scheme, according to a survey by recruitment agency Robert Half.
The 2009 Robert Half Auckland Salary Survey shows 47% of finance and accounting professionals do not intend to contribute to KiwiSaver, 41% are already enrolled in the in the scheme and another 12% expect to start in the next six months.
Around 25% of all eligible New Zealanders have joined the scheme and the recently lowered threshold from 4% employer contribution to 2% was expected to encourage more people to join.
The survey found that 30% of the almost 1,000 professionals surveyed believed the decrease in minimum contributions made KiwiSaver more affordable.
However, only 11% of those enrolled plan to cut their contributions to 2%.
Forty-one percent said the decrease in compulsory employer contributions to 2%, and changes in government contributions made it less attractive.
Robert Half says a surprising percentage of those surveyed said their employers were contributing more than the legal minimum of 1% to KiwiSaver accounts prior to the compulsory increase.
Almost three-quarters of those surveyed (74%) said their employers were already contributing 2% while 23% said their employers were contributing 4%.
Compulsory employer contribution rose to 2% on Wednesday, April 1.
The survey found 21% of employees would accept a small decrease in salary for increased employer contributions.
Robert Half senior manager Megan Alexander says this gives employers another option for remuneration flexibility.
"Employers should also bear in mind that a significant proportion of their competition for skilled staff are, even now, offering employees more than the compulsory minimum 2% contributions," she says.
Alexander says employers also need to consider what they can offer staff who choose not to contribute to KiwiSaver.
