Bonuses and pay hikes and new jobs – oh my! After seven years of job market turmoil, the Emerald City is now in sight. So how does your salary match up? Emily Wright reports on the latest Estates Gazette Salary Survey in association with Cobalt Recruitment
If ever there was a time to negotiate a pay rise, it might just be now. Property salaries are up – and not just a little. The industry’s average pay packet has risen by more than £5,000 to £47,065 since spring 2012 and average fees earned are at their highest level since 2009. It won’t be as simple as three heel clicks of the ruby reds to be whisked back to 2007 salary levels, but the road ahead is looking more golden brick than dirt track.
And it’s not just basic earnings that are on the up. The latest Estates Gazette Salary Survey, in association with Cobalt Recruitment, reveals that bonuses have jumped, on average, by £2,000 from under £5,000 in 2012 to nearly £7,000 this year.
Expectations of further salary rises over the next year are up by 14%, while fear of redundancy is down by 3% compared with 18 months ago. And the good news is not just in London and the South East. Earnings across the country increased by an average of 3% (see p57 for full regional breakdown).
Although it would be unwise to use these figures as a pretext for marching into the boss’s office with a pay demand – they reflect a recovering, not booming, industry – securing a pay rise has certainly become a far more realistic target over the past 12 months.
“Property companies are busy again,” says Christopher Mackenzie, head of UK property markets at Cobalt Recruitment. “We have seen rising recruitment activity over the past year. After years of static salaries, there is reason, and so an expectation, for salary rises.”
And a straight pay rise is not the only way to boost earnings. With increased movement between jobs within the UK and overseas, this year’s survey of just under 1,000 property professionals has, for the first time, drilled down into the average rises to be expected through relocation.
So, are you on the right salary for your role and region? Which sectors and job types are the highest paid? And why is the pay gap between men and women creeping up again?
Somewhere over the salary slump
Tracking the average salary across the property sector since 1995 reveals a gradual decline in earnings from 2008 – as would be expected – with a particularly sharp slump between 2011 and the start of last year as the impact of the recession took its toll on salaries.
But the good news is that the bounceback has been almost as steep.
This year’s survey shows that developers and investment and/or fund managers are likely to bag the top salaries. Particularly lucrative areas of work include corporate real estate, commercial development and asset management.
Regional rises
Despite the more rapid market recovery in London and the South East compared with the rest of the UK, salary rises were reported across the nation, from 2.3% in Scotland and the North to 3.7% in greater London. Although these rises are coming off lower bases in the northern regions, the fact that salaries are going up rather than down is a positive sign.
Relocation and reward
For the first time in this year’s salary survey we examined the use of social media in job hunting and investigated how people of different ages are most likely to look for work (see graphs below). We also looked into relocation – both in terms of how common it is and what it can mean in terms of salary increases.
This proved particularly interesting as company expansion – especially global growth – is resulting in more property professionals considering a move to different regions in the UK or overseas.
Heather Macleod, research manager at Reed Business Insight, crunched the salary survey numbers and picked up on this trend – particularly in terms of movement overseas. “It was really interesting to track salaries both inside and outside the UK for the first time,” she says.
“Around a third of our respondent base said they had relocated for their job, with 11% doing so in the past two years. And more than two-thirds saw an increase in salary – by an average of 19%. This shows property professionals have different weapons in their armoury when considering ways of significantly increasing their salaries.”
She adds: “Overall, this year’s salary survey suggests the property sector is turning a corner. After a few uncomfortable years, it is excellent to see a rise in average salaries, and by such a significant margin.”
