The opposing forces of opportunity and uncertainty are keeping construction salaries in balance. And while employers are no longer offering skilled professionals mega pay rises, they are refining non-financial benefits.

Salary survey 2 flat

It鈥檚 time to ask yourself whether you鈥檙e paid enough. Each year 好色先生TV鈥檚 salary survey of key professional construction industry roles, compiled with data from recruitment firm Hays, uncovers the salaries that QSs, architects and engineers can expect to command at various points in their careers. This year the picture is strikingly similar to last 鈥 with consultants benefiting from a headline modest average pay rise of 2.8% over the last 12 months, exactly the same as in 2017.

In fact, the survey is the latest data to confirm the continuing uneasy truce between opportunity and uncertainty that has characterised the UK construction industry since the 2016 EU referendum. Clients鈥 nerves in the face of Brexit have largely been overcome by a recovering global economy and the continuing fundamental demand for new infrastructure, homes and other premises. This steady growth has translated into ongoing strong demand for skilled professionals, albeit without the feeding frenzy atmosphere seen immediately after the recession abated in 2013.

But look closer at the survey: subtle changes are afoot in how the market for skilled professionals is changing in the 鈥減hony war鈥 atmosphere since Brexit. Employers are finding skilled workers harder and harder to prise from their jobs, forcing them to both turbo-charge their entry level recruitment efforts, and look inwards to their own organisations to find staff for the new challenges they face.

鈥淭here are still lots of opportunities, but it鈥檚 not as crazy as it was. it鈥檚 gone from being silly, to just being very busy鈥

Richard Gelder, Hays Construction & Property

Pinch points

The 2.8% average pay rise recorded by Hays in this survey is one percentage point ahead of what most people in the UK have seen in the last year, hinting at the industry鈥檚 ongoing shortage of skilled people. But it鈥檚 unlikely you鈥檒l feel much better off for it: 2.8% is still marginally below the rate of inflation. Certainly, those who joined the industry after 2013, when even the average wage rise topped 5% a year, may be somewhat disappointed by a notable lack of the double-digit increases many professionals saw around 2014-15. In fact this is, says Richard Gelder, director at Hays Construction & Property, really just a return to a much more normal market. 鈥淭here are still lots of opportunities, but it鈥檚 clearly not as crazy as it was. It鈥檚 gone from being silly, to just being very busy,鈥 he says.

The data, somewhat inevitably, shows some variation in wage rises, with QSs appearing to be most in demand. At most levels of seniority QS salaries have increased by 4%, where architects are seeing 1-2% rises and engineers 2-3%. Hays鈥 Gelder says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 the usual picture, with QSs and project managers hugely in demand. But building surveyors and general surveying roles are also really busy.鈥 

Anecdotally, other key pinch points are around roles such as data scientists that result from the increasing use of technology in the design and operation of buildings, as well as 鈥 following the Grenfell tragedy 鈥 jobs related to fire safety. Daniel Harris, senior talent acquisition lead at Aecom, which is 6,800-strong in the UK, says cost managers, project managers and anything to do with fire safety are currently most often the hardest to fill roles.

Geographically, Hays鈥 Gelder says that London remains a very strong market, despite the commercial office and high-end residential downturn, but that growth there is now being outpaced by regional cities: Birmingham and Manchester particularly, but also Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow. For example, Andrew Reynolds, UK and global board director at consultant RLB, which has grown by more than 20% to 580 UK employees in the last year, says growth has been fastest in regional cities including Manchester, where staff numbers doubled in 18 months.

鈥淔irst [on staff鈥檚 job priority list] is a sense of belonging and of their values being represented in the firm鈥

James Bryce, Arcadis

Control

Hays鈥 survey shows more than half (57%) of organisations expecting business growth this year, slightly down on the 64% in 2017, with two-thirds planning to recruit. Two-thirds of businesses (64%) told Hays they had experience moderate skills shortages, with near a fifth (18%) citing 鈥渆xtreme鈥 shortages. But whereas consultants were willing to break the bank to bring people in during the overheated market of three years ago, now employees shouldn鈥檛 expect to be offered mega-money to move.

Stuart Senior, main board director at Gleeds, says: 鈥淲e took on 100 apprentices and have worked hard on succession planning and in general terms we can find the people we鈥檙e looking for. We like to think we don鈥檛 have to throw money at people to move here.鈥

鈥淚t鈥檚 very clear that a few years ago there wasn鈥檛 the level of rigour and strategic thinking about making offers as there is now,鈥 adds Gelder. 鈥淚t鈥檚 now about controlled growth. There鈥檚 an urgency to take people on, but they鈥檙e much more aware of what the market rate is and know it鈥檚 better not to make the wrong decision.鈥

James Bryce, director of strategic workforce planning at Arcadis is in some ways an example of the more controlled and strategic view employers are taking of staffing, opposed to the pell-mell rush to hire of 2014-15. Not a human resources professional, his job is to match demand, supply and staff resource in the short, medium and long term. 鈥淭hree or four years ago Arcadis probably wouldn鈥檛 have hired a director to do this,鈥 he says.

However, this more controlled growth can leave employees disappointed. Bryce says his firm, which had 15,000 applicants for 1,000 jobs last year, is one of many to be focusing on improving and refining the non-financial elements of its offer to employees while salaries are restrained. 鈥淭he salaries that people are wanting [in order] to move are often very high. There鈥檚 a bit of a mismatch of expectations between the workforce and what increases clients are prepared to bear. 

鈥淗owever, if you ask people, financial reward is about fourth of fifth on their list of job priorities. First is a sense of belonging, and of their values being represented in the firm. This attracts a lot of people.鈥 Gelder agrees. 鈥淓mployees are now much more aware of what else a business can offer them beyond salary, in terms of experience, how the business will develop, and issues like flexibility and work-life balance.

鈥淚f an employer is not able offer these things, it鈥檚 potentially putting itself at a real disadvantage,鈥 he says.

The larger consultants have now long since dusted down the graduate- and apprentice-level recruitment programmes designed to bring in the talent of the future. But to address the here and now, the need is for mid-career skilled professionals with a decent amount of experience under their belts. However, with firms no longer flashing the cash to bring in new hires, and Brexit casting a pall of uncertainty over growth prospects, it appears more staff than ever are deciding to stay put. 

Retention

Hays鈥 data suggests 48% of workers will consider looking for a new role this year, down sharply from 69% in 2017. RLB鈥檚 Reynolds says: 鈥淓xperienced technical individuals that have been in their roles for some time are just not really thinking about moving. Part of this is the natural appetite for risk being different at different times in your life. But there鈥檚 also a level of reticence related to Brexit and what that could mean.鈥

Likewise, Bryce says: 鈥淧eople are very cautious about moving 鈥 uncertainty makes them want to dig in. There has been a bit of a merry-go-round in the sector, but that鈥檚 beginning to disappear.鈥 This dynamic is making efforts by employers to retain existing staff ever more important. Hays鈥 employer survey suggests more employers are increasing training budgets (22% compared with 13% last year) and running mentoring programmes (24%), both of which show existing workers they are valued. Gleeds鈥 Senior says: 鈥淎s we鈥檝e moved out of recession retention has become of paramount importance鈥, while Gelder adds: 鈥淭he focus is on retention, without a shadow of a doubt.鈥

But simply retaining staff in existing roles isn鈥檛 enough for businesses that not only want to grow, but also need to refocus into new markets and position themselves for new opportunities. Here the difficulty and expense of hiring is driving them to look inward to fill the vacancies created. Bryce says 500 Arcadis staff moved internally last year. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 grow your own talent immediately, so you鈥檙e left with the option of working with what you have. Our answer is to create a really good resource management framework, and equip our existing people with the right knowledge so we don鈥檛 have to buy in more talent unnecessarily.鈥

Aecom鈥檚 Harris is working to the same goal: 鈥淚f you have people within your business that can move and learn new skills, it benefits everyone. Recruiting is expensive, there鈥檚 a big saving by creating an environment where people can move and it impacts the bottom line.鈥

This route, of course, may not be for everyone, with Harris admitting some employees are 鈥渢raditional鈥 and 鈥渞igid鈥 in what they want from a job. But for those employees willing to learn new skills, it is likely to only make them more employable. 

好色先生TV surveyors
RegionPartner/directorAssociateSenior surveyorNewly qualified building surveyorGraduate building surveyorMaintenance surveyor

East Midlands

拢60,500

拢51,000

拢44,000

拢34,000

拢22,500

拢31,000

East of England

拢66,000

拢50,000

拢42,000

拢33,000

拢20,500

拢32,000

London

拢98,000

拢75,000

拢56,500

拢42,000

拢28,000

拢38,000

North-east

拢52,000

拢45,000

拢44,000

拢31,000

拢22,000

拢33,000

North-west

拢74,000

拢50,000

拢42,000

拢37,500

拢24,000

拢30,000

Northern Ireland

拢52,500

拢42,000

拢33,000

拢29,500

拢19,000

拢28,000

Scotland

拢72,000

拢60,000

拢52,000

拢36,000

拢23,000

拢28,500

South-east England

拢76,000

拢62,000

拢52,000

拢36,500

拢22,500

拢36,000

South-west England

拢67,500

拢50,000

拢40,000

拢32,500

拢24,000

拢32,500

Wales

拢62,000

拢49,000

拢44,000

拢32,000

拢23,000

拢31,000

West Midlands

拢67,500

拢52,000

拢43,000

拢35,500

拢24,000

拢32,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢66,000

拢47,500

拢42,500

拢35,000

拢22,500

拢28,000

National average

拢67,833

拢52,792

拢44,583

拢34,542

拢22,917

拢31,667

Average change 2017-2018

3%

4%

3%

4%

4%

4%

Professional quantity surveyors
RegionPartner/directorAssociateSenior surveyorNewly qualified surveyorGraduate
surveyor
Claims and dispute resolutionProject manager

East Midlands

拢68,000

拢51,000

拢46,500

拢36,000

拢24,000

拢46,000

拢46,000

East of England

拢65,000

拢52,000

拢47,000

拢36,000

拢22,500

拢51,000

拢43,000

London

拢95,000

拢75,000

拢60,000

拢42,500

拢28,000

拢78,000

拢55,000

North-east

拢58,000

拢50,000

拢48,000

拢31,500

拢22,000

拢40,000

拢42,000

North-west

拢78,000

拢53,500

拢46,000

拢36,000

拢24,500

拢52,000

拢45,000

Northern Ireland

拢68,000

拢50,000

拢40,000

拢33,500

拢21,000

拢46,000

拢39,000

Scotland

拢75,000

拢66,000

拢55,000

拢37,000

拢23,000

拢47,000

拢47,000

South-east England

拢85,000

拢68,500

拢54,000

拢41,000

拢26,000

拢50,000

拢55,000

South-west England

拢65,000

拢51,500

拢45,000

拢33,500

拢25,000

拢46,500

拢43,500

Wales

拢62,000

拢48,000

拢42,000

拢32,000

拢22,000

拢46,000

拢46,500

West Midlands

拢68,000

拢56,000

拢46,500

拢33,000

拢25,000

拢44,000

拢43,500

Yorkshire and Humber

拢66,000

拢52,000

拢45,500

拢35,500

拢23,000

拢53,500

拢46,000

National average

拢71,083

拢56,125

拢47,958

拢35,625

拢23,833

拢50,000

拢45,958

Average change 2017-2018

3%

4%

4%

3%

4%

3%

3%

Architects
RegionPartner/directorAssociateArchitectArchitectural assistant, Part IIArchitectural assistant, Part I

East Midlands

拢60,000

拢45,500

拢41,500

拢25,750

拢20,000

East of England

拢53,000

拢43,000

拢41,000

拢22,500

拢18,500

London

拢85,000

拢65,000

拢45,500

拢31,000

拢22,000

North-east

拢50,500

拢40,500

拢32,000

拢20,500

拢17,500

North-west

拢65,000

拢47,000

拢36,250

拢25,250

拢18,250

Northern Ireland

拢51,500

拢43,500

拢33,250

拢22,500

拢16,250

Scotland

拢55,000

拢45,000

拢36,000

拢23,000

拢16,000

South-east England

拢65,500

拢51,000

拢42,500

拢28,500

拢22,000

South-west England

拢51,000

拢42,500

拢38,500

拢26,500

拢16,500

Wales

拢51,000

拢40,000

拢35,000

拢25,250

拢17,250

West Midlands

拢59,000

拢45,500

拢39,000

拢24,500

拢17,500

Yorkshire and Humber

拢58,000

拢45,000

拢33,500

拢22,750

拢18,250

National average

拢58,708

拢46,125

拢37,833

拢24,833

拢18,333

Average change
2017 - 2018

1%

2%

2%

2%

2%

Interior designers
RegionSenior interior
designer
Interior designer

East Midlands

拢34,250

拢28,250

East of England

拢36,000

拢30,500

London

拢47,000

拢39,000

North-east

拢28,000

拢25,500

North-west

拢35,250

拢27,500

Northern Ireland

拢28,000

拢23,500

Scotland

拢34,000

拢27,000

South-east England

拢38,250

拢32,250

South-west England

拢31,000

拢26,250

Wales

拢31,250

拢26,250

West Midlands

拢39,000

拢28,250

Yorkshire and Humber

拢28,750

拢25,250

National average

拢34,229

拢28,292

Average change 2017-2018

2%

1%

Architectural CAD technicians
RegionSenior CAD technicianCAD technician

East Midlands

拢36,250

拢28,500

East of England

拢34,000

拢25,500

London

拢41,000

拢30,500

North-east

拢29,000

拢24,500

North-west

拢36,500

拢26,250

Northern Ireland

拢29,000

拢22,500

Scotland

拢34,000

拢22,000

South-east England

拢38,500

拢28,500

South-west England

拢35,000

拢26,500

Wales

拢32,500

拢23,250

West Midlands

拢34,250

拢27,250

Yorkshire and Humber

拢31,500

拢24,750

National average

拢34,292

拢25,833

Average change 2017-2018

2%

2%

Civil CAD technicians
RegionCAD managerSenior CAD
team leader
CAD technician

East Midlands

拢38,000

拢35,750

拢32,500

East of England

拢40,000

拢38,000

拢29,500

London

拢55,000

拢46,750

拢37,750

North-east

拢35,750

拢31,500

拢22,500

North-west

拢40,000

拢37,750

拢29,500

Northern Ireland

拢32,500

拢29,500

拢26,250

Scotland

拢40,000

拢39,250

拢30,250

South-east England

拢39,000

拢38,500

拢31,000

South-west England

拢39,500

拢37,250

拢27,750

Wales

拢37,000

拢31,000

拢25,500

West Midlands

拢39,500

拢39,500

拢31,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢37,000

拢32,000

拢26,500

National average

拢39,438

拢36,396

拢29,167

Average change 2017-2018

3%

2%

2%

Structural engineers
RegionAssociateSenior engineerEngineerGraduate engineer

East Midlands

拢56,500

拢47,000

拢40,000

拢23,500

East of England

拢53,000

拢45,000

拢36,750

拢25,500

London

拢66,000

拢53,000

拢40,500

拢29,000

North-east

拢49,500

拢41,000

拢33,000

拢22,500

North-west

拢53,250

拢42,000

拢35,000

拢24,750

Northern Ireland

拢46,000

拢38,000

拢30,000

拢23,500

Scotland

拢55,000

拢43,500

拢33,000

拢25,500

South-east England

拢55,000

拢46,000

拢36,000

拢25,500

South-west England

拢56,500

拢41,500

拢33,500

拢22,500

Wales

拢51,500

拢41,000

拢32,500

拢22,500

West Midlands

拢60,000

拢46,000

拢37,000

拢25,500

Yorkshire and Humber

拢49,000

拢39,500

拢31,000

拢23,250

National average

拢54,271

拢43,625

拢34,854

拢24,458

Average change 2017-2018

3%

3%

3%

2%

Architectural technologists
RegionAssociate Senior
technologist 
Technologist 

East Midlands

拢41,000

拢34,000

拢26,500

East of England

拢49,000

拢40,000

拢32,000

London

拢52,000

拢45,000

拢35,000

North-east

拢41,000

拢34,000

拢26,500

North-west

拢45,000

拢38,000

拢28,000

Northern Ireland

拢38,000

拢33,000

拢23,000

Scotland

拢40,000

拢37,000

拢26,000

South-east England

拢50,000

拢40,000

拢32,000

South-west England

拢39,000

拢35,000

拢25,000

Wales

拢36,000

拢32,000

拢22,000

West Midlands

拢43,000

拢34,000

拢27,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢43,000

拢34,000

拢27,000

National average

拢43,083

拢36,333

拢27,500

Average change 2017-2018

n/a

n/a

n/a