digital salary & industry insights - Amazon AWS

DIGITAL SALARY & INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 8TH EDITION

www.Propellondon.com 0207 432 6340 [email protected] @propellondon

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Digital Salary & Industry Insights

CONTENTS

Digital advertising

47

Email marketing

47

Marketing online

48

Marketing brand strategy

48

Product management

48

Paid search

49

SEO/SEM

49

Social media

49

Technical

50

Demographic & highlights

51

Architecture

52

Backend

52

Big data

52

Business analysis

53

Front end development

53

IT operations

53

Project management

54

Testing/QA

54

Creative

56


57

Welcome Methodology Demographics

5 6 9

Overview

12

Corporate values

13

Company culture

17

Working hours

20

Overpaid vs Underpaid

26

Benefits of the job

28

Location and commuting

30

How professionals find a role

32

Contractors / Freelancers

34

Salaries – the rise and fall

36

Gender gap

39

Commercial

40


41

Copy writing

58

Account management

42

Design

58

Agency sales

42

Production management

58

Business development

42

Project management

59

Enterprise software sales

43

Strategy

59

Partnerships

43

UX/UI

59

Marketing

44


45

Operations

60


61

Affiliate marketing

46

Administration

62

Campaign marketing

46

Finance

62

Content management

46

HR

62

IT

63

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MESSAGE FROM TH E CEO

WELCOME Welcome to the 8th edition of this report. Over the years, this report has evolved from a basic survey of salaries to this year’s report which covers attitudes to work, and to employers, and to what is attracting people to jobs. As the industry has grown and diversified, so has this report to reflect the growing maturity and breadth of the digital economy.

Founder and CEO Melina Jacovou

One of the key trends that has emerged over recent years is that the values and culture of a company are key to decision making when it comes to candidates looking for new roles. As such, we’ve taken a closer look this year at this topic and the results make fascinating reading. Also, a key function of these reports is to track the gender pay gap. Sadly, this year I have to report that the situation has not dramatically improved and we still see stark differences in many areas. It is an area we will continue to monitor. As ever, Propel strives to be at the centre of staffing the digital economy and providing insights around the topic. You can keep up to date by visiting our blog at propellondon.com/blog and registering to attend our regular events. Of course, we are always more than happy to have a chat and coffee at our lovely new offices in Soho.

5

METHODOLOGY The data for this report is drawn from two primary sources: an online survey carried out in late 2017 and internal salary records taken from placed candidates and client briefs throughout 2016/17.

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We gathered the data through a pre-tested and then revised questionnaire. The responses were collected online via SurveyMonkey, then analysed. We received 1,297 responses to the survey, 36 of which were invalidated due to being either incomplete, irrelevant, or due to respondent error. The final survey data set therefore consists of 1,261 responses from individuals working across the global digital economy.

1,261 Responses

The questionnaire structure took into consideration a number of factors regarding respondent behaviour, namely: •

Direct influences - demographic variables (e.g. age, gender,

seniority, job title and salary)

•

Behavioural influences - career level, years in industry, skill set

•

Deduced influences – culture, values

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This year, we measured the deduced influences of our respondents more explicitly through questions on the level of importance placed on a company’s values and culture. We took data from over 3,000 anonymised salary records from our own database. This allowed us to supplement the salary data provided by survey respondents with robust data drawn from placed candidates and client briefs.

8


DEMOGRAPHICS

There’s little change from last year’s survey when it comes to gender split for respondents. It’s just over 60% male, just under 40% female. The demographics for the skill set were very similar to last year’s figures: 27% technical (compared with 21% last year), 13% commercial (15%), 33% marketing (37%), 12% business operations (10%) and 16% creative (17%) When it comes to type of work, 80% of respondents are permanent, while 20% are contract. That’s interesting to observe as we’re supposedly entering an era where more people are looking for flexibility and where employers are seeking to move away from permanent staff and use more contractors. This trend isn’t reflected in the results of this survey.

9


D EMOGRAPHI CS OV E RV I E W

Age

Type of business

18-24

301000= 3.30%

Agency side

5000= 150

29.22%

25-34

440 1000= 44.35%

Client side / In-house

5000= 235

47.61%

35-44

360 1000= 36.87%

A tech vendor

500= 65

13.60%

45-54

120 1000= 12.35%

A consultancy

50500=

9.57%

55-64

201000= 2.61%

65+

51000= 0.52%

Skill set

Time in role

Technical

200 1000= 26.56%

< 1 year

5000= 150

31.76%

Commercial

120 1000= 12.83%

1 - 2 years

5000= 175

33.25%

Marketing

320 1000= 32.62%

2 - 3 years

500= 80

16.13%

Operations

110 1000= 11.76%

3 - 4 years

25500=

5.71%

Creative

160 1000= 16.22%

4 - 5 years

23500=

4.96%

> 5 years

40500=

8.19%

Gender Male

600 1000= 61.04%

Female

380 1000= 38.96%

Seniority Junior / Non Management

1000= 101

10.96%

Mid-level / Middle Management

1000= 320

32.35%

Senior / Senior Management / Head of

1000=00= 46.43% 460

Senior Executive / CxO / Managing Director / Board level

1000= 0100

10

1000=

10.26%

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SEC TI ON 1

OVERVIEW Corporate values How do our results reflect these findings? There’s certainly a belief in a defined set of values. According to the survey 73% of companies have such a set, and, of people who work in such companies, 85% of them believe that they understand what those values are. Interestingly, however, only 72% of respondents believe that those companies communicate these values effectively. That gap suggests that 13% of respondents have had to discover those values for themselves – or are mistaken as to what those values are.

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CO R PORATE VALU E S

Does your company have a set of defined values?

Do you know what the cultures and values are?

Yes

720 1000= 72.80%

Yes

850 1000= 85.84%

No

270 1000= 27.20%

No

140 1000= 14.16%

Are they clearly communicated?

Do staff demonstrate the behaviours that underpin those values?

Yes

710 1000= 71.76%

Yes

730 1000= 73.55%

No

280 1000= 28.24%

No

260 1000= 26.45%

Do leaders demonstrate the behaviours that underpin those values?

Have you ever declined a job offer due to the culture and values of the prospective employer?

Yes

660 1000= 66.86%

Yes

570 1000= 57.66%

No

330 1000= 33.14%

No

420 1000= 42.34%

When looking at a potential employer, how important is their culture and values? (Where 1 is low and 10 is high) 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1.70%

1.06%

1.91%

1.49%

4.88%

5.94%

15.07%

27.60%

18.26%

22.08%

When asked whether staff support their company values, an alarmingly high 26% of respondents say they don’t, and an even more worrying 33% of respondents say that their leaders don’t. This raises some fascinating possibilities. Were these leaders failing to offer fringe benefits that employees were entitled to? Or are there other issues to be identified here? It’s clearly problematic that a third of all companies with a defined set of values are led by executives who are seen as failing to support those values.

13


According to the survey, 42% of respondents have rejected a job because of the prospective employer’s set of values. This, again, throws up some interesting possibilities. Does this mean that the prospective employer doesn’t have any values? Or it does but they are not seen as attractive? Or the employer does have values, but the senior executives themselves don’t follow them? More than four in ten employees see this as such a significant issue that a job can be rejected, so there’s a lesson there for companies, as it appears candidates are looking for a set of a values that they can relate to. When asked where people get their information from regarding company values, 52% say the interview, while 8% say company websites and 3% say social media channels. This demonstrates how important the interview is not just for the employer to judge the candidate’s potential, but also as an opportunity for communicating the company’s values to the prospective employee. 12% review the company on Glassdoor and 13% speak to current employees. When it comes to applying for a job, a company’s defined set of values features very strongly: 9% of candidates think those values are even more important than pay when it comes to choosing a job and 54% think that they’re equally as important as salary. But then, for most criteria, those values retain their importance. Working hours, holiday allowance, career progression and job autonomy all had at least 50% of respondents placing equal value on them. Or even higher: 79% of respondents thought that a set of values was of equal or greater importance than holidays.

14


CO R PORATE VALU E S

How did you form your perception of the hiring company’s culture and values? At interview

520 1000= 52.03%

Glassdoor

120 1000= 12.15%

Spoke to current employee/s

130 1000= 13.22%

Company website

70 1000= 7.68%

Company social media channels

201000= 2.77%

Media coverage

211000= 2.99%

Other

90 1000= 9.17%

When looking at a job offer, how important are culture and values compared to other considerations? Less important

As important

More important

Pay

8.21%

53.78%

38.01%

Hours

18.04%

57.83%

24.13%

Holiday allowance

24.68%

53.90%

21.43%

Type of work

9.35%

48.26%

42.39%

Career progression

9.52%

50.65%

39.83%

Job autonomy

8.71%

58.82%

32.46%

Recommendations for employers The survey results make for interesting reading. It seems that most companies have a defined set of values but they’re not always on the ball when it comes to communicating what these are. And senior managers are not always scrupulous when it comes to following these values. Given the importance of such values to employees – to the extent that prospective employees will turn down jobs if such values do not match with their own – it is incumbent on senior staff to ensure that they are not falling below the standard expected. While the 9% of prospective employees that believe that a company’s set of values is more important than pay is not a huge figure, it does serve to remind employers that these values should not be treated lightly. 15

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COMPANY CULTURE When it comes to talking about company culture, we’re in relatively new terrain. It was something that only begun to be talked about in sociological journals in the 1960s but in the last couple of decades it’s something that companies have invested a great deal in and a topic where Propel has been very active. A 2017 survey carried out by Burson-Marsteller and the Great Place to Work Institute asked senior executives from top-ranked companies about the value of a positive work environment. The survey garnered responses from 20 of the top 25 companies in the global workplace ranking. Here’s what those companies do in common: offer their employees company benefits, recognise the importance of corporate culture, and make sure that external observers recognise their companies as being great places to work.

The strong showing by tech organisations is no real surprise.

A 2017 survey by Fortune magazine revealed that the top five admired companies in the world were Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft – and all five of them featured in the top seven companies mentioned in the Propel sample. They are, of course, all US companies, as were a few of the other companies mentioned in the Propel report (Disney, Netflix, Salesforce).

Bearing that in mind, our survey makes for interesting reading, particularly when it looks at companies whose cultures are admired. There are two things that stand out the most: the dominance of technology firms and the preponderance of American enterprises.

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It says something about British corporate culture that so few domestic organisations were mentioned by our survey respondents. The most admired British company was Virgin, the other companies mentioned were the BBC, John Lewis and drinks company Innocent.

18


The dominance of the tech firms is easy to explain. As Fortune outlined, all five have created completely new markets and reinvented the way that we use technology. There aren’t many companies in the world which have totally transformed our way of life.

Was it the corporate mission statement of ‘Don’t be evil’? Was it the company’s market dominance (and, if so, that much of recent negative media coverage has had no effect)? Or, was it, as one respondent mentioned, the free food? Certainly, corporate benefits feature strongly in what is admired in companies. As we have seen, organisations that value their own employees score highly when it comes to company culture.

There are some fascinating highlights here. Google attracted nearly as many votes as the next 13 companies put together. Companies most admired for their company culture Amazon

131000= 1.3%

Apple

361000= 3.6%

BBC

101000= 1.0%

Disney

101000= 1.0%

Facebook

51000= 4.9%

Google

210 1000= 21.1%

John Lewis

101000= 1.0%

LinkedIn

101000= 1.0%

Microsoft

131000= 1.3%

Netflix

161000= 1.6%

Salesforce

131000= 1.3%

Unilever

131000= 1.3%

Virgin

191000= 1.9%

Others

570 1000= 57.8%

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OVERVI E W

WORKING HOURS The days of the 35-hour week seem to be well and truly over. According to the survey, 79% of respondents are contracted to work for 37 hours a week or more (12% are contracted to work for more than 42 hours a week). But it doesn’t stop there, the respondents are ready to put in an even greater effort – 42% regularly work for five hours or more than their contracted amount (in other words, an hour a day) every week, with 15% working 10 hours or more. How many hours are you contracted to work a week? < 30

301000= 3.82%

31 - 36

160 1000= 16.44%

37 - 41

670 1000= 67.50%

42 - 47

80 1000= 8.80%

48

301000= 3.44%

How many hours over those contracted do you work on average per week? None

300 1000= 21.50%

1-2

170 1000= 17.08%

3-4

190 1000= 19.39%

5-6

120 1000= 12.86%

6-7

70 1000= 7.49

7-9

601000= 6.91%

10+

140 1000= 14.78%

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How long are people staying in their jobs? Only 19% have been in their job for more than three years. And, what’s more, of those long servers, only 7% envisage staying in their job for another six years – the idea of a job for life is definitely disappearing. And remarkably, of the respondents who have been in a job for under a year, none of them can see themselves staying in a job for more than six years – and most can’t see themselves staying for three.

How long have you been in your current role?

Are you considering a job change in the next twelve months?

5 years

401000= 8.19%

Why are they leaving? Despite the common perception that people leave jobs to earn more money, that’s not the most usual reason given for leaving a job. Top of the list, by some way, is lack of career progression. An incredible 46.5% of employees give this as a reason to leave, while 26% cited the lack of training as a stumbling block. Third on the list was the company culture (more on this later). And 13% lost their job because they were made redundant or dismissed; an alarmingly high number (roughly the rate that was recorded during the recession of nearly 10 years ago, according to the Office of National Statistics’ figures). There seems to be no difference in the attitudes of women and men when it comes to looking for a new job. Sixty percent of men say they’re looking to move; almost exactly the same percentage of women (61%) in the survey itself.

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The flipside of this is focusing on what people are looking for in new jobs. Given the frustrations that employees have found in their existing jobs, it’s to no-one’s great surprise that the opportunity to pursue interesting and varied careers is the biggest driver: it took top spot, with 63% of respondents claiming that would be a strong motivation. But, while pay isn’t a big factor in making people leave, remuneration is certainly a driver in encouraging people to move to a new job – 59.7% say it would be an attraction. Not many people leave to take a pay cut, in other words. But not far behind pay, 49% of workers are looking for a new challenge and 26% are seeking more training. It’s apparent that the respondents wanted to be tested more and are up for learning new skills, begging the question of whether employers are doing enough to encourage them. If you were to leave your current company, what would be your motivating factor(s)? Improved career opportunities / progression

630 1000= 63.23%

Improved training / development / support

230 1000= 23.66%

People / culture / working environment

330 1000= 33.55%

Increased financial remuneration / overall package

600 1000= 59.78%

New work challenge

490 1000= 49.03%

Retirement / maternity, paternity leave / sabbatical

70 1000= 7.96%

Other

01000= 0.00%

22

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Recommendations for employers In these austere times, it’s not always possible to give pay rises, which could cause problems when trying to retain staff. But, as the survey shows, salary is not the main problem that drives employees away. Firms need to look closely at their organisational structures: are there decent opportunities to progress? It’s a tricky situation to balance: too flat a structure and there’s little opportunity to progress, too hierarchical, and there’s the danger of too many managers.

24


There’s one other element to consider: 49% of workers are looking for a new challenge and 26% are seeking more training. It’s apparent that employees are motivated by the opportunity to learn new skills – are employers doing enough to meet this need? The new challenge may not be a

There may not be a need to actually pay for training: just facilitating the process – for example, providing time off for a course – may be enough. Certainly, companies need to be more aware of any shortcomings in this area.

49%

of workers are looking for a new challenge

promotion – it may be a chance to move into a new area or work with a different set of people. Combine it with some onthe-job training and it may well be enough to motivate and encourage staff members who were beginning to feel a bit jaded. An examination of Glassdoor reviews suggests that there has been a reluctance by employers in the past to train employees – there has been a feeling that staff would use their newly-found skills to move to new jobs, but the survey indicates that failure to meet this training need could see employees leave anyway.

25


OVERVI E W

OVERPAID VERSUS UNDERPAID It’s a favourite conversation: am I getting a fair salary? Are some in the company being paid more than me for doing the same job? We asked our respondents whether they thought they were getting a fair salary and the results were not very flattering to employers – 46.8% of those surveyed thought they were underpaid, while only just over half (51.5%) thought they were fairly paid.

Do you feel that you are fairly, under or over paid in your current role? Underpaid

460 1000= 46.77%%

Fairly paid

510 1000= 51.49%

Overpaid

171000= 1.74%

Not many people thought they were overpaid, just 1.74% of the total respondents. Interestingly, only two of those were earning more than £70,000, and none were in the upper echelons of the pay brackets. One of the respondents was on £24,000, less than the average salary and thought herself overpaid – it’s interesting that 66% of those who thought themselves overpaid were women. Is this a reflection of the commonly-held perception that women under-value themselves in the workplace? So, are the people who are underpaid looking for a pay rise or looking to leave? Here’s where British reticence took over. The question was asked but it wasn’t answered by many people – of those who thought themselves underpaid, only a few were willing to talk about a projected tenure.

26

Recommendations for employers It’s good to see that the majority – just – of employees believe they are fairly paid. That’s no mean result in an era where there’s been some considerable wage restraint in the past few years. But nearly half of those surveyed thought they were underpaid – that’s not so good. In some respects, this to be expected; a survey taken at any point in the last 50 years would probably see a significant percentage claim they were underpaid but this year’s figure is uncomfortably large. Employers would be well advised to keep tabs on the job market and work with their recruitment advisors to see how they’re shaping up. It’s essential to regularly benchmark your organization against similar ones in your sector and companies should check sites like Glassdoor to see how they’re being perceived by their employees and the wider world.

27


OVERVI E W

BENEFITS OF THE JOB It’s no surprise to see that the most popular benefit was a company pension – it’s often regarded as one of the major company perks. What benefits do you receive in your current role? Medical insurance

570 1000= 57.44%

Childcare

180 1000= 18.80%

Pension

800 1000= 80.42%

Flexible benefits

240 1000= 24.28%

Flexible working

490 1000= 49.35%

Life Insurance

370 1000= 37.08%

Share option scheme

210 1000= 21.41%

Discounted memberships (e.g. Gym)

430 1000= 43.86%

Career breaks / Sabbaticals

140 1000= 14.86%

Other

70 1000= 7.57%

Travel allowance (car, season

320 1000= 32.38%

But there’s a big surprise in the number of people who are benefiting from it: the number of respondents with a company pension has increased to more than 80% which we would suggest is a manifestation of the new workplace pension. Other benefits haven’t increased by much: medical insurance is enjoyed by 57% of those surveyed, a slight increase on the 51% from last year, while the number of people offered discounted membership, for gyms for example, rose from 30% to 43%. There’s more of a trend towards flexible working however, 49% in 2017 compared with 36% in 2016. 28


There’s been a growing interest in flexible working given the greater use of remote office apps, 4G connectivity and near ubiquitous broadband. Only 18% of employees are being offered childcare, a 50% increase on last year’s 12% but not much of a reflection of the growing need for childcare support – although the increase in flexible working may also be a reflection of this demand for flexible childcare. The issue of bonuses shows a clear demarcation between industry sectors and levels of seniority. Bonus receipt by skill set Business Operations

Commercial

Creative

Marketing

Technical

12%

20%

10%

35%

22%

Bonus receipt by seniority Senior

Middle Management

Junior

55%

35%

10%

Recommendations Employers need to be cognisant of their employees’ requirements. Again, companies would find it useful to examine survey results to see how their benefits are perceived, and look at their own staff turnover and data from exit interviews. It may be prudent to look at flexible working policies and implement the technological changes needed to support a change in working practices. This is something that is sure to be demanded in the future – and with the advances in mobile technology, there could well be room for moving away from rigid officebased working.

29


OVERVI E W

LOCATION AND COMMUTING One of the most striking aspects of the survey is the London bias. The UK is unusual among major countries in having one dominant city at the heart of its political, economic, cultural and business life. 79% of survey respondents were based in London (and when looking solely at UK-based respondents, the figure rises to 86%). If you throw in the south-east as well, this figure rises to 84% (93% of UK respondents) although this is hardly surprising given the nature of Propel’s business. It may also explain the attitudes to commuting: 26% of the sample had a commute of more than an hour (above the Office of National Statistics estimated national average commuting time of 54 minutes). Where is your office located?

How long is your commute?

London

780 1000= 78.56%

< 1/2 hour

5000= 130

26.63%

South East

501000= 5.85%

1/2 - 1 hour

5000= 235

47.32%

South West

151000= 1.56%

1 - 2 hours

500= 90

18.97%

East Midlands

111000= 1.17%

2 - 3 hours

10500=

2.49%

West Midlands

21000= 0.19%

> 3 hours

5500=

0.96%

North West

111000= 1.17%

15500=

3.64%

East of England

111000= 1.17%

Work from home

Scotland

01000= 0.00%

Wales

01000= 0.00%

Northern Ireland

01000= 0.00%

Outside the UK

87 1000= 8.77%

North East Yorkshire and the Humber

51000= 0.58%

30

31


OVERVI E W

HOW PROFESSIONALS FIND A ROLE What’s the first port of call when it comes to looking for a new position? Recruitment consultancies are still very popular – 67% of those sampled use these. But not far behind are sites like LinkedIn, 60% of respondents said they’d look there for a new role and that the personal network still counts for something, 62% of the survey used their own contacts. Online recruitment boards add to the mix with 53% of respondents using these, and 54% still use direct applications. Social media (outside of LinkedIn) adds little to the options – just 11% use the likes of Twitter and Facebook. These all represent an increase on our last survey’s figures, however. 47% of respondents used consultancies and 46% used LinkedIn in 2016. Personal networks and direct applications both accounted for 40% of the sample, while job boards were used by 38%. The numbers using Twitter and Facebook remained comparatively low at 11%. Which of the following do you use to find a role? Job boards

530 1000=

53.12%

Recruitment consultancy

660 1000=

66.88%

Direct application

540 1000=

54.19%

Personal network

610 1000=

61.72%

Business social networking e.g. LinkedIn / Xing

600 1000=

60.86%

Other social media e.g. Twitter / Facebook

110 1000=

11.18%

32

Recommendations for employees Employers should be aware of the multiple options available for recruiting staff and remain active on sites like LinkedIn. Senior managers should be active in this area. It’s important, however, to recognise that specialist recruitment consultancies still have a part to play and it’s important to nurture contacts in these areas.

33


OVERVI E W

CONTRACTORS / FREELANCERS The length of contracts continues the trend we saw with last year’s survey: contract periods are getting longer. Only 9% of contracts are under a month, while 44% are six months or longer and 32% are between three and six months. It’s interesting that in an era of the gig economy, contractors are looking for job security. People are moving on to other jobs quicker too: last year 31% spent less than a week between jobs, this year that’s jumped to 37% although 17% were between jobs for one and two weeks this year, compared to 2016’s 21%. When asked how long they would be prepared to commute, it’s obvious that freelancers/contract staff haven’t reached peak commute quite yet – 35% would be prepared to travel more than one hour. Rather surprisingly, 3% would be prepared to travel more than three hours to work, which turns towns like Preston and Darlington into commuter areas. It should also be pointed out that 6% of the respondents would not be prepared to travel more than 30 minutes to work; a surprisingly high number given the London-focuses nature of the survey and that few people in London live within easy reach of their office.

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What is your average length of time between each contract?

What is your usual contract length?

< 1 week

360 1000=

36.36%

< 1 month

5000= 80

8.82%

1 - 2 weeks

170 1000=

17.17%

1 - 3 months

5000= 140

14.71%

2 - 3 weeks

110 1000=

11.11%

3 - 6 months

500= 320

32.35%

3 - 4 weeks

100 1000=

10.10%

> 6 months

500= 440

44.12%

> 4 weeks

250 1000=

25.25%

How long are you willing to commute for each day during a contract? < 1/2 hour

601000=

6.00%

1/2 - 1 hour

560 1000=

56.00%

1 - 2 hours

290 1000=

29.00%

2 - 3 hours

601000=

6.00%

> 3 hours

301000=

3.00%

63+37

Would you consider a permanent role in the future?

Yes

63.37%

No

36.63%

The uncertainty of self-employment and tax changes mean that the freelance life isn’t for everyone – 64% of contractors would consider a permanent role in future. 35


OVERVI E W

SALARIES – THE RISE AND FALL It’s hardly surprising that, in these austere times, not everyone received a salary increase. However, the 60% of respondents who did receive a pay rise is slightly larger than might be expected. Some people though saw pay decreased and two-thirds of these were female. When you consider nearly twice as many males took the survey, that’s not a good percentage.

Has your salary increased or decreased over past 12 months? Increased

600 1000=

60.35%

Decreased

301000=

2.99%

No change

360 1000=

36.66%

36

37

38


OVERVI E W

GENDER GAP We’re seeing a narrowing here, after last year’s figures. The average male salary is £80,172, while the female salary is £72,039, a 11% gap – 7% less than the 18% of last year. It’s a gap though that reflects the spread of job functions, however. Technical jobs, which tend to be better paid, are very much the domain of men, 78% of jobs in this sector are held by men. But there are other glaring anomalies too. A look at the number of people holding jobs at £150,000 ( the highest tax bracket) shows that females are very much in the minority – just 21% of these jobs are held by women. And it’s no surprise to see that C-Level executives tend to be men: just 30% of board level employees are female. But even lower down the scale, there’s a strong male bias – 74% of senior executives are men. It’s a different story when it comes to junior employees however. At the bottom end of the scale, 56% of people in first or low-paid positions are female, a highly disproportionate split given that the majority of the respondents are men.

Average salaries by gender Male

Female

Junior/Non-management

£47,949

£35,602

Middle Management

£51,125

£45,696

Senior Management

£75,904

£70,561

C-Level

£145,711

£136,300

39

SEC TI ON 2

COMMERCIAL The job function which is, by some distance, the most common, at 34%, is that of business development – a role that covers a wide variety of skills and is a bit of a catch-all title, as obviously no two business development managers are the same. The second most popular is account management – 21% - another role that covers a wide divergence of skills.

40


There are various other sales roles covered: agency sales at 11%, enterprise software sales at 10%, partnerships at 8% and some other minor roles.

But, just as with the technical roles, there’s

Gender

Average salaries by gender

going to be some distortion: is an account manager in enterprise software sales the former or the latter? It will be down to individual interpretation.

Male

710 1000=

71%

Male

552 1000=

£113,513

Female

290 1000=

29%

Female

3500 1000=

£70,029

0k

Average salaries by seniority

200k

Age 18-24

601000=

6%

25-34

280 1000=

28%

£114,222

35-44

400 1000=

40%

£168,250

45-54

240 1000=

24%

55-64

101000=

1%

65+

101000=

1%

Junior

£38,000

Mid-level

£56,038

Senior C-Level

Seniority

Receive a bonus

32%

Junior

110 1000=

11%

Mid

240 1000=

24%

Senior

430 1000=

43%

The following pages provide an overview

C-Level

220 1000=

22%

of the salary averages for the specific specialisms within the commercial skill set, broken down by seniority level.

41


Account management average salaries Last time around, these were lower than the commercial average; they still are but they have increased healthily. C-Level executives in this field are certainly doing well, demonstrating their superior negotiating power. Junior

175 1000=

£37,458

Mid

200 1000=

£40,982

Senior

365 1000=

£73,000

C-Level 800 1000= £160,000 0k

200k

Agency sales average salaries A bit of an odd set of results for this one: the indications are that salaries are falling – particularly at C-Level. In reality, there were some strange outliers here. Junior

430 1000=

£43,850

Mid

650 1000=

£65,750

Senior

815 1000=

£81,542

C-Level 720 1000= £72,500 0k

100k

Business development average salaries There’s a bit of a mixture here: salaries at the higher end seem to have stalled while junior salaries appear to be on a rapid path upwards. The reality is that a couple of highly-paid junior jobs has slanted the average a bit, but there’s enough to say that there are genuine increases at the lower level. Junior

240 1000=

£48,000

Mid

230 1000=

£46,765

Senior

505 1000=

£105,240

C-Level 750 1000= £159,375 0k

42

200k


Enterprise software sales average salaries This is an area that requires a range of specific skills, with the requirement for a good deal of technical knowledge. There’s little surprise that salaries are considerably higher than average – C-Level remuneration is especially high, an indication of how rare this range of skills is. Mid

450 1000=

£90,000

Senior

725 1000=

£155,000

C-Level 1000= £200,000 0k

200k

Partnerships average salaries This is an area of highly lucrative sponsorship deals. It should be one of the higher earners but salaries appear to have stalled a bit this year, perhaps a reflection of the state of the market, perhaps a reflection of an uneven sample. Junior

240 1000=

£24,000

Mid

600 1000=

£60,000

Senior

680 1000=

£68,000

0k

100k

43

SEC TI ON 3

MARKETING Here’s an area where there’s a bit more in the way of clearly defined roles, with some newly emerging specialisms. The two most common jobs, however, are the established ones of direct/online marketing and brand strategy – these cover 22% and 23% of respondents respectively, with the next most popular being digital advertising, with 13% of respondents.

44


The continued growth of the SEO specialist is reflected in the 10% of respondents who perform this particular role. And the 9% of the sample who deal with email marketing is probably an underrepresentation of the number of people who handle this as part of a wider role.

One aspect of the survey that is surprising

Gender


is that very few people are involved in content management and community building (just 3%), although these are areas that are seen as important in today’s content-focused world. Nor was there clear representation for the role of social media specialist. This could be a result of what were seen as specialists tasks now becoming standard techniques within the overall marketing discipline.

Male

510 1000=

51%

Male

510 1000=

£64,452

Female

490 1000=

49%

Female

490 1000=

£61,903

25-34

500 1000=

50%

35-44

370 1000=

37%

0k


100k

Age

Overall

£66,006

Junior

£31,171

Mid-level

£43,822

45-54

100 1000=

10%

Senior

£60,581

18-24

201000=

2%

C-Level

£128,450

55-64

201000=

2%

Seniority

Receive a bonus

Junior

501000=

5%

Mid

310 1000=

31%

Senior

450 1000=

45%

C-Level 110 1000= 11%

40%

The following pages provide an overview of the salary averages for the specific specialisms within the marketing skill set, broken down by seniority level. 45


Affiliate marketing average salaries An area that’s important to companies looking to build partnerships. Traditionally, it’s been slightly below the market rate, but this year has shown levels above the 2016 figures – maybe a reflection of the need to maximise revenues. Mid

440 1000=

£44,120

Senior

450 1000=

£45,500

C-Level 900 1000= £90,000 0k

100k

Campaign marketing average salaries This is a role that demands several different skills to ensure that the needs of the campaign are being met. There were not too many responses in this section, although those that did respond showed a healthy increase in salary at senior management level. Mid

560 1000= 0k

£56,000

100k

Content management average salaries As more and more businesses are tailoring content for specific marketing campaigns, this is becoming a more important role. This year’s survey has seen increases at the junior and middle manager end of the market, although there’s been a slight fall at senior executive level. Junior

311 1000=

£31,184

Mid

411 1000=

£41,129

Senior

470 1000=

£47,000

0k

46

100k


Digital advertising average salaries This really is an area where having more experience pays off. C-Level executives in this field are looking at significantly higher salaries than in other marketing sectors. Mid

250 1000=

£50,571

Senior

350 1000=

£71,000

C-Level 840 1000= £168,500 0k

200k

Email marketing average salaries It’s not always the case that the higher echelons of marketing are earning stratospheric salaries. As in the 2015 and 2016 surveys, email marketing is not being excessively rewarded at the higher end, although there’s a decent increase at junior level. Junior

300 1000=

£34,467

Mid

387 1000=

£39,438

Senior

640 1000=

£55,000

0k

100k

47


Marketing online average salaries As in the 2016 survey, there is a wide divergence in salaries. Junior roles continue to be well rewarded, meaning that salaries in this field are well above the average. This is true for other levels too, but not to the same extent. Junior

215 1000=

£33,000

Mid

250 1000=

£47,150

Senior

330 1000=

£66,214

C-Level 657 1000= £137,200 0k

200k

Marketing brand strategy average salaries Once more, the importance of branding and identity is reflected in the similar or above average salaries for brand strategy professionals at both senior and C-level brackets. This has traditionally been an area of high salaries but this year’s survey has shown extremely high levels of increases. Junior

180 1000=

£36,250

Mid

215 1000=

£43,505

Senior

350 1000=

£71,572

C-Level 800 1000= £160,000 0k

200k

Product management average salaries This was not a section that generated much in the way of response. But, for those who did, it wasn’t good news – the average salary for senior managers in this field has gone down. This however, could be a discrepancy from a smaller sample. Senior

696 1000= 0k

48

100k

£69,625


Paid search average salaries This is another one of those areas where increases at the top end have not been matched by increases in the junior ranks – indeed, the average junior salary is lower than 2016’s figure. Junior

250 1000=

£25,000

Mid

427 1000=

£42,750

Senior

685 1000=

£68,500

0k

100k

SEO/SEM average salaries This, surprisingly, has been area that has remained relatively stable with, on the whole, salaries pretty much on the same level as they were in 2016. Given the emphasis that companies are giving to SEO, this might have been expected to be higher. Junior

135 1000=

£27,125

Mid

200 1000=

£39,553

Senior

250 1000=

£50,821

C-Level 600 1000= £120,000 0k

200k

Social media average salaries Everyone by now knows how important social media has become to consumers but it’s still not translating into mega-salaries for those executives. There’s been an increase on last year’s figures but they’re still below the marketing average. Mid

340 1000=

£34,000

C-Level 950 1000= £95,000 0k

100k

49

SEC TI ON 4

TECHNICAL This is one of the interesting areas with 22% of respondents working in the field of big data/analytics – probably a reflection of the number of people working in media roles – 26% of the survey’s respondents work in this field. There are also large numbers of people working in technology itself – always an interesting area for debate: is someone who works in an IT department of a major bank working in technology or banking and finance? And does it make a difference if that person was working for an IT service provider working for a bank? It’s an area where definitions can be very fluid and it could be that some of these very precise technical skills are masked in a more catch-all response.

50


This may be particularly true for people who are combining two different jobs. For example, 22% of technical jobs are in data analytics – but that doesn’t quite square with the lack of people using Python, just 11.7% of respondents.

It may be that the Python developers

Gender


hide that skill under the more generic description of analytics. It’s a reminder that employers need to dig beneath the surface a bit more when crafting candidate job specifications. An outlier of an individual salary of £1m skewed the average C-Level salary.

Male

740 1000=

74%

Male

552 1000=

Female

260 1000=

26%

Female

200k 3500 1000=

£113,513 £70,029

0k


Age

Junior

£44,606

Mid-level

£52,680

Senior

£67,149

C-Level

£316,500

Seniority

18-24

401000=

4%

25-34

480 1000=

48%

35-44

350 1000=

35%

45-54

90 1000=

9%

55-64

301000=

3%

65+

101000=

1%

Receive a bonus

34%

Junior

210 1000=

21%

Mid

370 1000=

37%

Senior

380 1000=

38%


C-Level

301000=

3%

of the salary averages for the specific specialisms within the technical skill set, broken down by seniority level.

51


Architecture average salaries This is an area that covers a wide range of technical positions, making it harder to compare with last year’s figures. At first sight, salaries appear to be stalling but this could well be a reflection of different job roles. It’s noticeable that C-Level salaries are healthily above the rest of the pack. Junior

320 1000=

£32,000

Mid

630 1000=

£63,225

Senior

630 1000=

£63,225

C-Level 930 1000= £93,000 0k

100k

Backend average salaries Last year, we remarked how below the industry averages backend development salaries were – this is a trend that is continuing. Across the board, the salaries are lower than last year. Junior

222 1000=

£22,000

Mid

415 1000=

£41,500

Senior

450 1000=

£45,531

0k

100k

Big data average salaries This is one of the hottest job roles around right now; people with the right skills should be highly in demand. The salaries here don’t reflect that however, being pretty much on a par with last year’s figures. It could be that it’s still early days for heavy analytic work and much of the work being done now is in preparation for tougher tasks to come. Junior

390 1000=

£39,833

Mid

510 1000=

£51,813

Senior

760 1000=

£76,875

0k

52

100k


Business analysis average salaries Broadly similar in scope to big data, salaries tend to be above the industry average – particularly at junior level – but, again, they’ve stayed steady since last year’s survey. Junior

460 1000=

£46,000

Senior

600 1000=

£60,555

0k

100k

Front end development average salaries This is traditionally an area with some discrepancy in salaries as job functions vary greatly. This year’s figures show close affinity between junior and middle manager salaries, a contrast to last year’s which were much more spread. Junior

300 1000=

£30,667

Mid

380 1000=

£38,740

Senior

640 1000=

£64,000

0k

100k

IT operations average salaries People in IT operations have a demanding role, ensuring that an organisation’s IT infrastructure isn’t falling over. They tend be better paid than average and this year’s figures show some increases, perhaps a growing reflection of the importance of IT. Junior

490 1000=

£49,189

Mid

770 1000=

£77,500

Senior

762 1000=

£76,200

0k

100k

53


Project management average salaries Salaries at the junior end tend to be on the low side in this area – this year’s figures show a slight decrease on 2016. But this decrease is not as much as middle managers are experiencing, our sample suggests a decrease of 8.17%.

Junior

250 1000=

£25,250

Mid

390 1000=

£39,357

Senior

650 1000=

£65,175

0k

100k

Testing/QA average salaries This has traditionally never been a high paying area. It’s difficult to draw too many conclusions from this year’s figures as we only got responses from senior managers – and those salaries have stayed pretty stable. Senior

520 1000= 0k

54

100k

£52,300

55

SEC TI ON 5

CREATIVE The overwhelming number of respondents in the creative industry are employed in UX/UI – 41%. It reflects the growing need to put the user experience at the heart of everything. It probably explains the 29% working in design. Copywriting accounts for 9% of creative respondents and a surprisingly low 5% work in social media, a field often thought as one of the hottest areas. As already noted, the marketing section also saw low numbers here.

56


Gender


Male

540 1000=

54%

Male

590 1000=

£59,942

Female

460 1000=

46%

Female

490 1000=

£49,665

0k


Age

Junior

£20,167

Mid-level

£49,813

Senior

£83,510

100k

Seniority

18-24

501000=

5%

25-34

340 1000=

34%

35-44

440 1000=

44%

45-54

120 1000=

12%

55-64

201000=

2%

65+

101000=

1%

Receive a bonus

40%

Junior

601000=

6%

Mid

200 1000=

20%

Senior

720 1000=

72%


C-Level

301000=

3%

of the salary averages for the specific specialisms within the creative skill set, broken down by seniority level.

57


Copy writing average salaries This always been an area with lower salaries at the starter end, but those who progress can end up earning above average-salaries. Junior rates have gone even lower this time round but other levels are on the rise, a recognition that good copy writers can do well. Junior

190 1000=

£19,250

Mid

500 1000=

£50,000

Senior

800 1000=

£80,000

0k

100k

Design average salaries Salaries for designers continue to remain below the creative average as reported in our previous survey –although junior salaries are slightly above average, mid and senior salaries continue to fall below those in copywriting and strategy. Junior

220 1000=

£22,000

Mid

415 1000=

£41,500

Senior

455 1000=

£45,531

0k

100k

Production management average salaries This covers a wide variety of skills and there’s lots of variation in salary. This year’s sample was particularly high at the senior level and reflects a few highly paid respondents rather than a general industry trend. Mid

200 1000=

£39,333

Senior

725 1000=

£150,000

0k

58

200k


Project management average salaries Creative project management salaries are on a par with the average creative wages for mid and senior levels and have increased since 2016. Mid

500 1000=

£50,000

Senior

765 1000=

£76,500

0k

100k

Strategy average salaries Those who plot creative strategy are getting better rewarded. Salaries have greatly increased from last year, a realisation of the importance of the role. Mid

660 1000=

£66,000

Senior

950 1000=

£95,333

0k

100k

UX/UI Another outlier here: there are some very high middle management salaries in this area. It could well be due to the recognition that UX/UI is an important area and the best interface designers are hot property – they may not get promoted but they certainly get paid more. Mid

636 1000=

£63,667

Senior

550 1000=

£55,697

0k

100k

59

SEC TI ON 5

OPERATIONS This covers a wide variety of areas and divergences in salary. Administration, which accounted for 20% of respondents, is a really all-encompassing area: it recorded two of the smallest salaries in the survey (£26,000 and £27,000) and one of the largest (£186,000). However, the most common job function in this section is that of the HR specialist, a role filled by 40% of those responding. There were, again, some of the lowest salaries in the survey, with a few of £20,000 or under, but there weren’t many in six figures. The next most popular is IT with 31%. What’s interesting about this is that there are IT specialists who believe their role is more commercial than technical and this may be a shift to keep tabs on. 60


Gender


Male

490 1000=

49%

Male

640 1000=

£64,258

Female

510 1000=

51%

Female

530 1000=

£53,145

0k


100k

Age 16-24

101000=

1%

25-34

860 1000=

86%

£79,734

45-54

110 1000=

11%

£91,494

55-64

101000=

1%

Junior

£34,611

Mid-level

£45,494

Senior C-Level

Seniority

Receive a bonus

56%

Junior

130 1000=

13%

Mid

410 1000=

41%

Senior

420 1000=

42%


C-Level

401000=

4%

of the salary averages for the specific specialisms within the operations creative skill set, broken down by seniority level.

61


Administration average salaries This covers a variety of areas, from the most basic of office tasks to running the company. There’s little surprise that there’s a wide spread of salaries and given the type of salary at the senior end, it’s little wonder there’s been a big increase this year. Junior

150 1000=

£30,000

Mid

180 1000=

£36,800

Senior

510 1000=

£117,475

0k

200k

Finance average salaries Another area with a wide spread of salaries and another outlier with the low average salary for senior managers – almost certainly not an industry trend. Junior

95 1000=

£9,525

Mid

725 1000=

£72,500

Senior

435 1000=

£43,500

0k

100k

HR average salaries This is an area that traditionally has had higher than average salaries at the lower end – and this survey repeats that trend. Salaries for this year are around the same as for our last survey. Junior

350 1000=

£35,917

Mid

420 1000=

£42,398

Senior

670 1000=

£67,058

C-Level 750 1000= £75,000 0k

62

100k


IT average salaries The level of technical skills needed to support IT mean that salaries are much higher than for other business operations. This is particularly true at the higher end, where only MDs regularly pull in higher salaries than CIOs. Junior

240 1000=

£47,500

Mid

265 1000=

£53,333

Senior

335 1000=

£72,000

C-Level 565 1000= £130,000 0k

200k

63

64


THANK YOU Propel provides contingent, executive appointment, team build and contract services to the digital economy. Our client base is extremely diverse and includes national retailers, independent digital marketing agencies, international VC-backed start-ups and digitally native ecommerce businesses. Few recruitment companies have the experience and reputation we do in the digital market having operated in this space for sixteen years, and none can offer the breadth and depth of services that we do. Speak to a consultant on 0207 432 6340 or email [email protected]. Follow us at: propellondon

propel-london

@propellondon

@propellondon

For more information and to sign up to our newsletter: www.propellondon.com 65 65


NOTES

66

66


NOTES

67 67

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