JREs and Directors Lead UK Research Salary Rises

Mean salaries for UK research positions recovered strongly in 2004 and particularly in the second half as confidence returned to the industry, according to figures just released by MrWeb. Particular gains were made at the two extremes, JRE level and Directors & above, with senior salaries generally buoyant.

Separate totals for the last quarter of the year show that the trend continued through the second half, although January '05 has seen mean salaries revised downward, partly due to a mass of recruitment activity by companies not recently in the market for candidates.

Figures are based on more than 2,800 ads posted on the site between July and December '04 - the highest for any 6 months since the site began in 1998.

Entry level execs and JREs (up to c.1 year's experience) broke through the £20k mark for the first time. The mean of £20,200 is £2,500 up on the figure 3 years ago, when the downturn began to bite - although the climate of late 2001 actually saw mean salaries rise for roles other than JRE. Note that graduate scheme jobs are not generally advertised on the site so the above category tends to consist of two ad types: entry roles in small/medium agencies and ads for those with 6-12 months' experience.

Research Execs (typically 1-3 years' experience) and SREs (generally 2-5 years) have not seen the gains that other categories have over the 5 years we have been monitoring salaries. The mean RE salary of £23,400 has however returned at last to the peak level of late 2001, and is up £800 on the level 3 years ago - still below inflation. SREs show a very similar pattern, hovering around the £27,500 - £28,500 band for the whole of the last 4 1/2 years.

The level just above - which we call 'Project Manager' but which refers also to Account Managers and Team Leaders, just below AD on the agency side - has meanwhile seen significant rises - the mean is up £4,600 on 3 years ago and the current figure of £34,000 is a record high. In the last quarter of 2004 the mean was £34,300. These jobs generally require between 3 and 6 years' experience.

Mean AD salaries have also seen strong gains over 5 years but the figure fluctuates more widely. In late 2001, salaries for ADs and above rose dramatically as agencies cut back on numbers and concentrated on recruiting proven business developers, and the mean has only just risen above that level, reaching a record £42,500 in late 2004.

Our 'Director Plus' category covers a range from non-Board Directors up to CEOs, so it is a difficult one to interpret. The mean salary is as much a barometer of the types of Director being recruited as of rises and falls in the money being paid to people of equivalent experience. Over 4 years this had moved up by a couple of thousand pounds but in the second half of last year it rocketed to £5,000 above the previous level (based on 237 advertisements - no small sample). This resulted partly from more buoyant settlements and competition for business-getters, and partly from a good number of very high salaries (£90k plus). Interestingly, in January 05, there has been a slight reaction, the mean falling to £60,600 for jobs currently on the site - this includes many from the 4th quarter of 2004 of course so the January mean is down in the mid-to-late 50s. Based on a closer inspection of current postings, this reflects the return of ads for more junior directors and a tailing off of the high level jobs. Ads offering £45-55k for Director level posts were very rare indeed in 2002-4, but have been appearing again as of last month.

IT & DP professionals saw a slump in salaries in 2002-3 and some experts were reluctant to suggest that it was over last year - indeed, it took until the third quarter for the mean salary to rise above 2001 levels again. Field salaries are rising slowly but steadily in the long term - perhaps slightly above the industry norm due to the greater involvement of field personnel in managing projects (see the HRchive article on this). Please note that all IT/DP jobs and all field jobs are included in these categories regardless of seniority, so the mean should only be used as a rough indicator of whether salaries in the category are rising or falling. Comments are based on the experience of both advertisers and candidates as well as the stats.

Further discussion of the figures, along with comments from recruitment specialists (not all of whom may agree with our prognoses above...) will appear in a forthcoming edition of our 'People and Skills in MR' supplement MRWho - see www.mrweb.com/who for details / how to subscribe. Historical tables of mean salaries can be viewed via our online 'HRchive' at www.mrweb.com/hrchive.

Stats and comment on the number of vacancies posted, which has risen dramatically at most levels, will also be included in both of these. January saw a record 674 vacancy ads appear on MrWeb, along with record audiences and registrations.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.