Skill Shortages Pushing Up Wages

News Release

4th January 2005

Salary Survey Highlights Varied Pay Across UK

Kelly Services has launched its third annual salary survey report.

The survey has been compiled from information collected through Kelly’s network of 120 offices. It contains pay information on 13 job types across 11 regions of the UK.

It is indispensable guide for managers interested in comparing their own pay rates with those being offered generally across their region. This comprehensive data can be very useful for businesses in managing their recruitment and retention efforts.

While pay increased generally in 2004, the figures reveal that there is a growing gap between bottom and top end pay. The findings of this research, supported by anecdotal evidence from Kelly’s branch managers, indicates that employers are increasingly willing to pay better wages to those with the right skills and experience.

A PA/Secretary in the City of London, for example, can earn anywhere between £20,000 at the low end and £32,500 at the high end – a substantial 62% difference. The growing gap between bottom and top end pay has developed in an environment where businesses have to compete on wages to recruit and retain the right staff.

Unsurprisingly, there are still major pay differences from region to region. The South, South East and London regions still offer the best pay rates in the country. This reflects a continued strong demand for staff and higher costs of living in these areas. There are, however, interesting pay differences across job types and even within regions. 

Pay in Wales is at the lower end of the scale for traditional office based roles such as PA’s and secretaries. Yet demand in the region for Warehouse Operatives is such that they enjoy pay above the national average.

Similarly, pay in the South West is well below the national average across most of the jobs researched. However, the large number of contact centres in the region means that Call Centre Advisors in the South West receive the highest pay outside London and the South East.

Even within regions pay varies substantially from location to location. In the Midlands the cities of Derby, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Wolverhampton all offer reasonably similar pay across the 13 jobs researched. Yet employers within Birmingham pay their staff an average of around 9% more than those in the rest of the region.

Steve Girdler, Marketing Director of Kelly Services, said, “We hope this research will help provide UK managers and recruiters with accurate data on which they can base their recruitment decisions. Employees and job seekers may also be interested in the results as it gives them an idea of what others in the same are being paid and they can adjust their expectations accordingly.”

“As we predicted in last year’s report the UK job market continued to strengthen in 2004 as demand for both temporary and permanent staff has increased. This heightened competition for high calibre staff, which has been reflected in our salary survey. In 2005 we expect the demand for the best staff to continue rising. Employers, who wish to attract the right recruits, need to look beyond pay to develop strategies that address the impacts of upcoming legislation and the UK’s changing demography. Kelly Services can help develop those strategies.”

View the full salary research.

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Notes to editors

Interviews can be arranged with Steve Girdler, UK Marketing Director for Kelly Services. Please contact Niall Dologhan (details below) if you are interested in this.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services is a leading UK recruitment and human resources organisation, placing around 20,000 temporary staff into jobs each week and more than 10,000 people in permanent work annually through a network of 120 offices across the country.  Kelly Services, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company offering human resources solutions that include temporary services, staff leasing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement.  With more than 2,400 company owned and operated offices in 24 countries, Kelly provides to its customers nearly 700,000 individuals annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, light industrial, education and health care.  Visit www.kellyservices.com