Pay Under Pressure: Building Confidence and Clarity in Remuneration and Reward

The environment we’re working in.

In recent years, reward has been a reactive discipline in constant response mode. A pandemic, talent shortages, inflation shocks, restructures, global economic uncertainty and now AI and rising expectations about productivity – each challenge has landed at the feet of remuneration and reward professionals. What was once a predictable annual cycle has become a continuous exercise in adaptation. At the same time, the scrutiny has sharpened: pay transparency requirements, evolving pay equity obligations, and growing expectations from employees, unions and boards mean decisions are being examined more closely than ever. The need to explain pay decisions has never been greater.

Why this moment matters.

The pressure isn’t easing, but it is becoming clearer – and that creates opportunity. Transparency is turning into a way of building trust for organisations that get ahead of it. Better data is making pay equity reviews into meaningful decision-making tools. AI is reshaping roles faster than most job architectures can keep up with. And constrained budgets are forcing a more honest conversation about what reward is designed to achieve. Success won’t belong to the organisations with the biggest budgets. It will belong to those with the clarity to make sound decisions, and the confidence to stand behind them. That’s why we’re bringing the profession together around this year’s conference theme: Pay Under Pressure.

The theme: Pay Under Pressure.

This year’s conference is about Pay Under Pressure: Building Confidence and Clarity in Remuneration and Reward. Over two days we will explore the forces reshaping the profession – from economic conditions, pay equity, AI to workforce change and realities of operating within tighter budgets. You will hear from Senior leaders on the calls they’re actually making, explore new research that’s worth your time, and take part in facilitated discussion with the people solving the same problems in the same market.

Be in the room.
Two days, one room, and the people making the same calls you are.
The Maritime Room, Auckland, 16–17 November.

Details:

Date: 16 November 2026, 8.30am – 5.30pm – 17 November 2026, 8.00am – 12.30pm
Venue: The Maritime Room, Princes Wharf, Auckland CBD 1010

Our programme will include:

• The future of pay in Aotearoa – a forward-looking, deliberately provocative look at where remuneration is heading, with global shifts brought back to what they mean for New Zealand
• The economic outlook for 2026/27 – what current economic settings actually mean for next year’s pay decisions
• Leadership perspectives on reward in uncertain times – a senior panel on balancing commercial reality against employee expectations, and making confident pay calls with imperfect information
• New and emerging remuneration research – the latest thinking and data from leading remuneration consultancies
  AI, workforce pressures and human capital trends – how global workforce shifts are playing out day to day in New Zealand, and what they mean for reward
• Acting on pay equity analysis – turning pay equity data into action, with a focus on internal reporting and transparency to managers and People & Culture
• Reward and benefits case studies – real-world examples presented by our partners alongside their clients
• Facilitated discussion streams, including: Defending your pay decisions – communicating and justifying outcomes to employees, unions and boards; Making the most of a constrained budget – prioritising within a limited increase pool; Benefits successes and failures – what resonated and what fell flat, from salary sacrifice to EVP refreshes; AI a year on: what have we actually done? Where organisations have really got to with AI since 2025 — what has been adopted, what has been shelved, and whether the productivity gains have materialised.
• Wellbeing, resilience and self-care – practical, personal take-aways for reward professionals working under sustained pressure
• Networking throughout – welcome drinks, a networking breakfast, and time to connect with peers across both days
• Detailed programme and speaker line up to come