Vertical Salary Review: Surveyors see pay surge
Salaries rose dramatically in the past year, with surveyors enjoying pay rises of up to 22%, but employers feeling the pain of recruiting and retaining staff at higher wage levels, according to research.
Data in the Vertical Salary Review, published by Vertical Recruitment and Place North West, shows that every discipline in property and construction saw an average salary increase in the past 12 months. The 22% rise was recorded among building surveyors. The lowest was a 5% average rise for architectural technicians.
Across all disciplines, in terms of roles, the greatest increases were amongst graduates and senior roles, averaging 15% and 16% increases respectively. The largest rise was seen in graduate structural technicians, who saw an average salary increase of 43% from £15,000 in 2015 to £21,500 in 2016.
Average salary changes for structural technicians in the past year
Vertical Recruitment specialises in technical, construction and engineering recruitment. James Smith, director of Vertical Recruitment, commented: “Engineering is a busy sector of the market in the North West. With many new developments taking place and more in the pipeline, we have seen a constant demand for skilled structural engineers and technicians.
“Salaries have risen most aggressively for those with specialist skills, such as Revit. Senior to principal engineers who are able to design and manage projects independently have experienced a similar trend.”
Brin Gleeson, surveying and architecture recruitment consultant at Vertical, added: “We are seeing a highly competitive market for chartered building surveyors in the North West, which has led to increased salary expectations. Increased salaries have also presented new opportunities and responsibilities for building surveyors with some moving into project management roles. This is leading to a lack of building surveyors in industry which, in turn, will continue to drive higher salaries.”
The report looks at the salaries, job packages and perceptions of property and construction professionals in the North West. The sample size was 678 respondents who completed an online questionnaire.
