- Demand for technology talent peaks as eight of the top ten pay rises were for technology roles
- Competition for talent increases as almost all employers (92%) have experienced skills shortages in the past year
- 76% of employers plan to recruit in the next 12 months, a 5% increase on last year, according to an annual survey of almost 23,000 UK professionals
Technology roles have secured the top salary rises in the last twelve months according to new data released by Hays, the leading recruiting experts. In a list of the top ten roles which received the highest salary increases, eight of these were technology roles. Data architects saw an average increase of 6.2%, whilst database developers saw a higher than average rise of 5.6%.
Other areas which saw high salary increases include tax managers in financial services at 6.7% as a result of increased focus on compliance in the City. The competition for staff has also led to an increase in demand for HR professionals, with reward specialists seeing an increase of 3% and in construction, site management roles saw an increase of 3.4%.
Top ten salary increases:
- Operational Tax Manager – 6.7%
- Senior Front End Developer (Javascript/HTML/CSS) – 6.2%
- Data Architect – 6.2%
- Senior/Analyst Developer (C#/VB.net, ASP.net) – 6%
- Linux Systems Administrator/DevOps Engineer – 6%
- Developer (C#/VB.net, ASP.net) – 5.7%
- Database Developer – 5.6%
- Information Security Engineer – 5.3%
- Transport Planner/Supervisor – 5.2%
- Technical Lead – Java – 5.1%
Skills shortages look set to influence the hiring agenda for the year ahead as almost all employers (92%) reveal they have experienced skills shortages in the last year, and over a quarter (28%) do not believe they have the talent needed to achieve business objectives in research published today in the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2019 guide.
However, the majority of UK employers plan to hire in the year ahead, as continuing skills shortages put pressure on productivity and threaten employee morale. 76% of employers intend to recruit staff over the next 12 months, compared to 71% last year. These hiring intentions are at a five year high since the survey launched in 2013.
The impact of skills shortages and competition for staff continues to be felt by the workforce, as almost half (49%) of employers say shortages are threatening productivity, 46% report a negative impact on employee morale and 41% say it is impacting the ability to deliver projects.
Regional salary increases outpace London
Investment outside of London in sectors including technology, construction and finance has resulted in a number of regions experiencing above-average salary increases, with many outpacing London. There has been a 2.2% increase in the North West, 2.1% across the West Midlands, Yorkshire & the Humber and the South West and a 2% increase in both Northern Ireland and Wales. The average salary increase in London matched the overall increase at 1.9%.
Encouragingly for employees, pay rises surpassed those predicted by employers. Last year 67% of employers expected to increase salaries, while this year 73% actually did so. These increases were also larger than expected, as 30% of employers increased salaries by over 2.5%, compared to just 19% who planned to when asked in 2017.
Employees have responded positively to this, and 61% now say they are happy with their salaries, compared to 43% last year.
Simon Winfield, Managing Director, Hays UK & Ireland, commented: “As we await the outcome of the Brexit negotiations there is continued uncertainty around the impact that this will have on the market and what this could mean for UK businesses. However, what is clear from our research is that employers remain broadly optimistic about the market and are showing a degree of positivity toward hiring projections with the majority stating their intentions to hire in the year ahead. Skills shortages which continue to be widespread across the majority of professions, are a key driver for recruitment plans and employers are working hard to find talent to fill these gaps.
“This will only increase what is already a hugely competitive market for talent, and put further pressure on employees to increase pay in order to attract and retain staff.
“Employers will need to act decisively if they are to keep ahead of the competition, particularly when recruiting in highly competitive areas such as technology, by making strong offers not only around salary but also on work life balance, career progression, and the other aspects important to employees.”
For more information visit www.hays.co.uk/salary-guide
ENDS
For more information contact:
Helen Flannery, Senior PR Executive, Hays
T: +44 (0) 203 0400 282
M: +44 (0)75 5579 70401
E: [email protected]
About the report
Salary data in the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends report is compiled using information gathered during 2018 from Hays offices across the UK. It is based on job listings, job offers and candidate registrations. The recruiting trends and benefit data is based on a survey conducted in June 2018. The survey was completed by almost 23,000 employees and employers from organisations of all sizes and sectors.
About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2018 the Group employed 10,978 staff operating from 257 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2018:
– the Group reported net fees of £1.072 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £243.4 million;
– the Group placed around 77,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 244,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 19% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 26% in Germany, 24% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 31% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 58% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 42% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA