Construction salaries are growing faster than most sectors as employers struggle to fill skills gaps, but worries over job security mean people are wary of making a move. 好色先生TV reports on the latest salary survey from Hays

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If the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump ensured that political and economic uncertainty was the new black in 2016, the events of this year have made it clear that ambiguity in the overall business environment is not going away. The political shock of the 2017 general election has been accompanied by corporate shocks from Carillion and Interserve, with clarity on terms of trade after Brexit all the while remaining elusive.

The latest annual contractor salary survey, undertaken for 好色先生TV by recruitment firm Hays, seems to show that despite construction output holding steady so far, employees are increasingly responding to this hazy future by attempting to hunker down until the fog clears.

Hays鈥 survey of professionals employed in contracting organisations, conducted in early summer this year, found a big decline in the proportion who expected to move jobs in the next six months, to 34%, compared with 44% the previous year, as staff absorbed the more uncertain economic outlook.

This growing caution is despite continuing steady salary increases across all job types covered in the survey, as reported in the placements Hays has made over the year. The average salary growth of 3% that it found at contractors is exactly the same as last year. While not stellar, this is very healthy compared with the wider economy, and even within the construction and property sector as a whole. Hays reports just 1.8% salary growth across all industries in 2017, but 2.7% for construction and property professionals overall.

While demand and workloads remain for the moment healthy, the question for many employees is: do you have the nerve to make that job move you desire?

Site management

 Construction  (operational functions 鈥 site management)

Senior site manager

Site manager

Assistant site manager

General foreman

Region

 

 

 

 

East Midlands

拢48,000

拢45,000

拢35,500

拢32,500

East of England

拢50,000

拢43,000

拢31,000

拢30,500

Greater London

拢63,500

拢51,500

拢42,000

拢36,000

North-east

拢45,000

拢42,000

拢29,500

拢28,000

North-west

拢49,000

拢43,000

拢33,000

拢29,000

Northern Ireland

拢40,000

拢38,000

拢27,000

拢32,000

Scotland

拢47,000

拢44,000

拢35,000

拢33,000

South-east

拢62,000

拢51,500

拢39,000

拢35,000

South-west

拢48,500

拢42,500

拢32,500

拢30,500

Wales

拢45,000

拢40,000

拢30,000

拢30,000

West Midlands

拢49,000

拢44,000

拢36,000

拢31,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢45,000

拢41,000

拢32,000

拢28,000

National average

拢49,333&苍产蝉辫;

拢43,792&苍产蝉辫;

拢33,542&苍产蝉辫;

拢31,292&苍产蝉辫;

2016-17 change

4%

4%

3%

2%

Calming down

The industry has seen workloads continue to grow modestly in 2017, despite the post-Brexit uncertainty, and demand for staff is still strong. But there is no doubt we are no longer in the frothy recruitment market of a couple of years ago, when Hays鈥 survey reported average salary growth peaking at 7.4%, more than twice its current level. Andy Steele, chief executive of London and South-east contractor Osborne, which increased staff salaries by on average 3% this year, says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not as hot as it was 鈥 it鈥檚 fair to say it鈥檚 eased.鈥

At the same time, says Rick Lee, chief HR officer at contractor Willmott Dixon, the merry-go-round of senior staff at construction firms appears to have slowed. 鈥淐ompetition for staff has eased over the last year or two to some extent,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ut there are still competitive areas, particularly London.鈥

We have seen an increase in candidates accepting counter offers by their current employers rather than risk moving to a new company

Duncan Bullimore, Hays Construction

Into this gently cooling market have come the crises at two of the UK鈥檚 biggest contractors, Carillion and Interserve, potentially making many of their experienced hands consider their options. Those who do decide to jump ship can help meet demand from other employers. Osborne鈥檚 Steele says: 鈥淭he reality is that those firms become fishing grounds. We鈥檝e seen a greater influx of CVs from those firms, which have been historically difficult to get people out from.鈥

For employees outside Carillion and Interserve 鈥 which this week announced a round of redundancies 鈥 those contractors鈥 woes will feed concerns about how stable a new employer might be. This is a key consideration, when moving jobs entails losing the safety blanket of accrued redundancy entitlement at their current employer.

As well as Hays鈥 survey finding a steep fall in those looking to swap jobs, it also found that 鈥 after the remuneration package 鈥 job security is now the most important factor when considering a new role, cited by 21%. Steele says: 鈥淐andidates are definitely worried about job security and wider confidence in the market. They鈥檙e asking about workload 鈥 this is a pretty hot topic. It鈥檚 their longer-term security, not just what their salary is going to be.鈥

Quantity surveyor

 Quantity surveyor

Senior QS

Intermediate QS

Assistant QS

Region

 

 

 

East Midlands

拢55,000

拢44,000

拢30,000

East of England

拢55,000

拢45,000

拢30,000

Greater London

拢65,000

拢48,000

拢35,000

North-east

拢47,000

拢40,000

拢26,500

North-west

拢50,000

拢45,000

拢29,000

Northern Ireland

拢50,000

拢40,000

拢32,000

Scotland

拢52,000

拢41,000

拢24,000

South-east

拢63,000

拢48,000

拢33,000

South-west

拢54,500

拢43,500

拢31,000

Wales

拢50,000

拢40,000

拢26,500

West Midlands

拢51,000

拢40,000

拢29,500

Yorkshire and Humber

拢54,000

拢40,000

拢25,000

National average

拢53,875&苍产蝉辫;

拢42,875&苍产蝉辫;

拢29,292&苍产蝉辫;

2016-17 change

3%

4%

3%

Estimator

 Estimator on site

Senior estimator

Estimator

Assistant estimator

Region

 

 

 

East Midlands

拢56,000

拢42,000

拢28,000

East of England

拢56,000

拢47,000

拢31,000

Greater London

拢69,000

拢51,000

拢36,000

North-east

拢47,000

拢40,000

拢27,000

North-west

拢60,000

拢50,000

拢30,000

Northern Ireland

拢52,500

拢42,000

拢32,000

Scotland

拢52,000

拢44,000

拢29,000

South-east

拢65,500

拢50,500

拢31,500

South-west

拢52,500

拢46,500

拢30,000

Wales

拢51,500

拢42,500

拢29,500

West Midlands

拢59,000

拢44,000

拢29,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢53,000

拢43,000

拢25,000

National average

拢56,167

拢45,208

拢29,833

2016-17 change

2%

4%

2%

Warier of change

Anthony Brown, sales and marketing director at interiors contractor BW, which has grown from 85 to 200 staff in the last three years on the back of a new growth strategy and a healthy fit-out market, says even in this buoyant part of the industry job applicants are voicing concern. 鈥淲ith the economy in post-referendum mode it feels like there鈥檚 more of a chance of a harder end to this current cycle than people had anticipated,鈥 he says. 鈥淧eople are warier. They know the market won鈥檛 stay at this level for the next couple of years, so they want to make sure they鈥檙e making the right move.鈥

Duncan Bullimore, director of Hays鈥 construction arm, says this reticence to move is being felt even in the recruitment of the most senior staff. He says: 鈥淲e have seen an increase in candidates accepting counter offers by their current employers rather than risk moving to a new company, supporting fears around job security, as companies invest in retaining highly skilled staff 鈥 albeit reluctantly.鈥

However, any reduction in the willingness of professionals to move will serve to exacerbate continuing skills shortages for those employers that are looking to recruit. Bullimore says: 鈥淪kills shortages remain an issue. People think employee fears around job security will lead to less candidate availability in the market 鈥 thus making it harder for employers to access the talent they need.鈥

Candidates are [鈥 asking about workload 鈥 this is a pretty hot topic. It鈥檚 their longer-term security, not just what their salary is going to be 

Andy Steele, Osborne

The paradox is that, while workers may be more cautious over moving at an uncertain economic time, there is still very strong demand for staff with the right skills. According to Hays鈥 survey, the roles with the biggest salary rises included site managers, senior site managers, estimators, contract managers and project managers 鈥 all of whom saw average salaries increase by 4%. Steele says that, in addition, bid managers (not covered by Hays鈥 survey) are in very high demand, with anyone at the 鈥渇ront end鈥 of the construction process involved in winning work highly sought after. In contrast, health and safety professionals and more junior estimators, QSs and site staff saw lower rises.

BW鈥檚 Brown also highlights estimators, bid managers and contract managers as particularly difficult to get hold of, while Willmott Dixon鈥檚 Lee agrees that estimators, along with QSs, are the 鈥渉ardest roles to recruit for鈥, with competition toughest in London and the South-east.

Steele says: 鈥淚鈥檇 say that 3-4% rises as an underlying figure might be about right, but that covers some significant spikes in some areas.

In normal trading to keep staff that鈥檚 the rise we鈥檝e seen, but people are moving for more substantial pay rises. For bid managers, for example, we鈥檝e seen 10% plus.鈥

The survey highlights the continuing impact of these skills shortages, with 22% of employers saying they do not have the right staff to achieve their current business objectives 鈥 barely any improvement on the 23% saying the same thing last year. More than two-thirds of employers said a shortage of suitable applicants is their biggest recruitment challenge, while 61% said skills shortages are impacting productivity and a third that they are holding back growth plans.

Project manager

 Contract/project manager

Contract manager

Project manager

Region

 

 

East Midlands

拢59,000

拢53,000

East of England

拢55,000

拢50,000

Greater London

拢69,000

拢65,000

North-east

拢51,000

拢44,000

North-west

拢60,000

拢55,000

Northern Ireland

拢48,000

拢44,000

Scotland

拢57,000

拢55,000

South-east

拢67,500

拢65,000

South-west

拢57,500

拢55,000

Wales

拢55,000

拢50,500

West Midlands

拢58,000

拢52,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢53,000

拢48,000

National average

拢57,500&苍产蝉辫;

拢53,042&苍产蝉辫;

2016-17 change

4%

4%

Engineer

 On-site engineers

Senior engineer

Engineer

Region

   

East Midlands

拢44,500

拢37,000

East of England

拢42,000

拢34,000

Greater London

拢53,000

拢42,000

North-east

拢45,000

拢40,000

North-west

拢50,000

拢39,000

Northern Ireland

拢35,000

拢30,000

Scotland

拢46,000

拢38,000

South-east

拢45,000

拢40,000

South-west

拢42,500

拢37,500

Wales

拢45,000

拢36,500

West Midlands

拢41,000

拢35,500

Yorkshire and Humber

拢44,000

拢40,000

National average

&苍产蝉辫;拢44,417&苍产蝉辫;

&苍产蝉辫;拢37,458&苍产蝉辫;

2016-17 change

3%

3%

Seeking staff from outside the sector

Osborne鈥檚 Steele says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 now got to be about how we bring people with relevant skills sets in from other sectors, like teaching, even where they don鈥檛 yet have the technical qualifications. This is an urgent need now.鈥

However, while contractors may understand that meeting these ongoing shortages will require making the industry more attractive to those working in other sectors, actually doing so is still a work in progress.

On issues of most importance to so-called millennials, such as work-life balance, the industry performs worse than others, with fewer than half of employees saying their work-life balance was good, compared with a UK average of 55%. But Hays鈥 Bullimore says the evidence from the survey is that this is changing, with 59% of employers saying they now offer flexitime working, up from 46% last year, and 54% letting employees work from home if they need to, up from 48%.

Bullimore says: 鈥淓mployers in the industry are now more aware of the importance of offering flexible working options not only to help staff with their work-life balance, but also to help encourage more people into the industry, and help those who may be restarting their career after having a family. 鈥淎lthough the construction sector will remain different to many nine-to-five industries, employers are now helping by offering flexible working options.

For those already in the industry, however, whether or not to take the risk of that new job may be the biggest question.

Health and safety

 Health and safety professionals

H&S director

Senior H&S manager

H&S manager

Region

 

 

 

East Midlands

拢71,000

拢53,000

拢45,000

East of England

拢65,000

拢50,000

拢38,000

Greater London

拢95,000

拢70,000

拢55,000

North-east

拢56,000

拢46,000

拢36,000

North-west

拢65,000

拢52,000

拢43,000

Northern Ireland

拢50,000

拢42,000

拢37,000

Scotland

拢53,000

拢43,000

拢36,000

South-east

拢83,000

拢58,000

拢50,000

South-west

拢72,500

拢52,500

拢42,500

Wales

拢60,000

拢49,500

拢37,500

West Midlands

拢67,000

拢55,000

拢44,000

Yorkshire and Humber

拢72,000

拢53,000

拢42,000

National average

拢67,458

拢52,000

拢42,167

2016-17 change

2%

2%

3%