What the 2026 numbers are telling us.
Three observations stand out this year. First, compensation is no longer climbing uniformly. The days of every role in every sector getting a ten percent lift are over. 2026 is a stratified market. Commissioning engineers, critical facilities specialists and grid connection leads are still seeing double digit upside. Development managers, mid tier analysts and contract admin roles have flattened.
Second, fixed remuneration is still the story. We have seen only a handful of clients pushing harder on short term incentive to close offers. Buyers who lean on STI and LTI to make a shortlist work are losing candidates to competitors with cleaner base salary structures.
Third, the vehicle package is quietly returning. After two years of tool of trade allowances, mid market clients are bringing back fully maintained vehicles on senior project roles. It is the single easiest lever we see working on offer acceptance.
Where the heat is.
- Critical facilities engineering. Data centre hyperscale builds have lifted Principal Electrical and Critical Power Engineer base packages 12 to 18 percent in 12 months in Sydney and Melbourne.
- BESS commissioning. Commissioning lead day rates are 20 to 30 percent above the same roles on traditional generation builds. Candidates with two completed sites are in single digit supply nationally.
- Grid connection and HV engineering. REZ programs in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have stripped the senior HV pool. Principal HV Engineer packages in Sydney and Melbourne are up 15 percent.
- Rail systems engineering. Sydney Metro, Cross River Rail, Suburban Rail Loop and Inland Rail are running concurrently. Signalling and rail systems specialists can essentially name their package.
Where pay has flattened or cooled.
- Hydrogen project development. After the FID deferrals of 2025, hydrogen process engineer and commercial lead package growth has stopped. A small number of redundancies hit the market in Q1.
- Junior and graduate engineering. The starting salary arms race has paused. Several tier one contractors have pulled back graduate intake numbers by 10 to 20 percent compared to 2024.
- Oil and gas corporate finance. Flat year on year. Commercial and finance leaders in upstream are seeing similar packages to 2024, with most of the upside moved to LTI.
Counter offer behaviour.
Through 2024 and early 2025 the counter offer rate on senior renewables roles ran north of 50 percent. In 2026 it has fallen to around 30 percent. Candidates are still being counter offered, but fewer are accepting. The top reason stated back to us is culture and workload, not compensation. A counter offer that is purely financial, with no change in remit or team, no longer cuts through.
Our advice to clients: lead with the story, not the offer. Candidates are comparing your project, team and market position. If you cannot articulate why this role will be the best 18 months of their career, a 10 percent lift on base will not close it for you.
What this means for your 2026 budget.
If you are setting 2026 budgets now, we would plan for:
- 8 to 12 percent package growth on critical facilities, BESS commissioning, grid connection and rail systems roles
- 3 to 5 percent on development, engineering management and corporate roles
- Flat on hydrogen, early stage green steel and upstream oil and gas
- A 15 to 25 percent premium over book rate to win candidates out of active contract positions
Every number above is cut by sub sector, seniority and state in the 2026 LUVI Salary Benchmarking Report. Free to download below.