If you’re a graduate in search of your first role, then the latest survey figures could help you focus your efforts on the UK sectors that are most likely to offer you a salary boost.
The latest salary survey from recruitment group Hays has revealed that a lack of skilled workers is helping to accelerate wage growth in some industry sectors, with the UK’s building boom putting the construction sector in pole position when it comes to remuneration.
While average pay for skilled workers has increased by 1.8%, average pay rises in the construction sector are double this level at +3.6%. The research also revealed that certain roles in the construction sector are seeing even steeper pay rises, with project managers’ salaries up by more than 10%.
Following the construction and property sectors lead is the IT sector, with average increases of 2% and more substantial salary increases of 20% for more senior roles such as chief information security officer.
Sitting just above average pay rises, workers in the procurement sector can now expect a 1.9% climb in average salaries.
Commenting on the figures, Alistair Cox, Chief Executive of Hays, said:
“The official figures allow some people to claim that nobody is benefiting and nobody is getting a pay rise, but that would be the wrong conclusion to reach.
“Some are doing very well indeed. The highest growth in general is in construction and property, where there is real demand. These sectors are starting to find it difficult to recruit. They can’t find the staff easily and we are seeing it too in information technology.”
Recent figures from Morgan McKinley’s 2014 salary survey also revealed that pay for IT workers at a number of experience levels had jumped ahead of average growth figures. Demand being strongest for those with skills in social, mobile, analytics and cloud.
“We have seen an increase in demand for highly-skilled IT professionals in almost every sub-sector,” said Cem Baris, associate director for Morgan McKinley IT.
