Wage inflation among contractors may have slowed in the past year, but it鈥檚 still a pretty good time to ask for a pay rise. Will Mann examines the latest salary survey from recruiter Hays
Construction salaries are continuing to climb at a rate way beyond the dreams of workers in other industries.
The latest annual Hays contractors salary survey, published exclusively by 黑洞社区, shows average pay rose by 5% over the past 12 months 鈥� less than the 7.4% leap reported a year ago, but still more than double the 2.3% average increase across the recruiter鈥檚 other industry sectors.
Hays building division director, Duncan Bullimore, feels the wage growth of the past year has been 鈥渕ore measured鈥� compared to the 鈥渕ad dash for staff鈥� of a year ago 鈥� but sees no reason why it will cool down.
With the industry through the recovery and enjoying a boom, and with more and more hungry sites to feed, contractors are paying as much as it takes to recruit the best workers 鈥� with one firm reporting site-based staff jumping ship after offers to double their salary.
Site management roles, at all levels, have experienced the best pay rises over the past year, as was the case in 2014. The salaries of senior site managers climbed 10.1% on average in 2014, and have since jumped another 7% to 拢45,667. Assistant site managers saw their wages climb 8% to 拢31,875 鈥� the highest rise of any role in the Hays survey 鈥� after a 9.8% increase in 2014.
The figures tally with contractor Willmott Dixon鈥檚 experience. 鈥淥n average, the increase has been over 7% across our main site management operations roles over the past two years,鈥� says Rick Lee, group chief HR officer. 鈥淒emand is outstripping supply and strong technical expertise is difficult to find.鈥�
Similarly, Dawn Moore, Morgan Sindall鈥檚 HR director, says rivals are offering exceptionally high, one-off salaries to tempt site management staff. 鈥淭here have been cases where other contractors offered to double a site manager鈥檚 salary,鈥� she says. 鈥淥ften these are to manage troubled projects.鈥�
The issue of problem legacy contracts, a hangover from the recession, cropped up in last year鈥檚 survey 鈥� though Bullimore thinks that these jobs 鈥渉ave largely been completed鈥�.
鈥淭he difficulty now for contractors is the sheer number of sites to manage,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you鈥檝e got one or two big sites, they鈥檙e quite easy to run. When you have multiple sites, which is particularly the case in London鈥檚 housing market where there are lots of smaller plots, you need more staff.鈥�
Bullimore says the 鈥渉uge salary carrots鈥� are the exception rather than the rule: 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we see from ambitious SMEs mainly 鈥� the big boys don鈥檛 do it because it would upset their pay structure.鈥�
The best region of the country for big pay rises, as might be expected, is London. A senior site manager in the capital can now expect to earn 拢60,000 鈥� 36% more than a year ago. Contract managers received a 24% pay rise to 拢63,000. One of the best paid jobs in the industry is a London-based health and safety director, whose average salary is 拢90,000.
The capital construction boom has led to 鈥渁 lot of churn,鈥� says Moore. 鈥淪ome might say that鈥檚 always been the case, but recently it has become particularly pressurised.鈥�
London will only get hotter, Bullimore believes, with finite resources pushing wages even higher. 鈥淧lenty of contractors are not bidding for work there, for fear of not being able to deliver due to staff resources or because their supply chain do not have enough capacity,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he pay gap between London and the rest will undoubtedly grow in 2016.鈥�
Staff benefits
Salary inflation has prompted many contractors to boost their staff benefits. The Hays survey showed some 72% of contractors provide a company car or allowance, 45% offer over 25 days holiday a year, and 37% accommodate flexible working. Among employees, car or allowance is the highest attraction (valued by 53% of respondents), with annual leave second (49%), flexible working third (39%) and an above average pension contribution fourth (34%).
Morgan Sindall is considering the introduction of holiday trading and self-service benefits with employee discounts鈥�, says Moore.
Willmott Dixon has enhanced its private medical cover and improved its holiday offering. 鈥淲e have also introduced a personal learning fund for employees with over five years鈥� service,鈥� says Lee.
Both firms stress the career development they offer compared to smaller players and Moore believes 鈥渘ew entry talent is looking for more than just the base salary鈥�.
But with an ongoing skills shortage 鈥� 80% of employers who plan to recruit next year expect a shortage of suitable candidates 鈥� contractors may have to think outside the box with their recruitment strategies. 鈥淲ill companies be more prepared to take on people based on core competencies and then develop their skills?鈥� asks Bullimore. 鈥淟aing O鈥橰ourke, for example, has recruited people from an architectural technician background for roles in digital engineering or offsite construction.鈥�
Moore says the 鈥渒ey to recruitment success is accessing the biggest possible pool of talent possible, so we are looking at groups such as ex-offenders and women returners鈥�.
Willmott Dixon is prepared to go outside construction. 鈥淲e are looking at developing a conversion course to support career changers from other industries such as oil and gas, the armed forces and accountancy and finance,鈥� says Lee.
In the meantime, all the data points to 2016 being another year of high wage inflation in contractors. Business confidence is sky-high across the industry, with 75% of employers surveyed by Hays anticipating activity levels to increase in the year ahead, 86% planning to recruit more staff, and 67% expecting to increase salaries again.
鈥淭he indicators are that demand next year will be even stronger, led by housing 鈥� where there was a bit of drag this year around the election 鈥� and offices,鈥� says Bullimore.
And as the industry grows, staff want their slice of the cake, so there鈥檚 no sign the high turnover will end any time soon. Over half of employees surveyed stated they were not satisfied with their current salary, with 58% saying they were looking to move roles in the next 12 months. The main reason for doing so, according to 35% of these respondents, was the salary and benefits package.
Methodology
Recruitment firm Hays consulted candidates and clients and used the specialist knowledge of recruiting experts to compile this survey. The salary data was gathered during 2015 from Hays offices across the UK, based on job listings, job offers and candidate registrations. The survey results are based on a survey of just under 2,000 contractor employers and employees. Salary data and benefits survey results were collated in August and September 2015.
Construction (Operational functions - site management)
| Region | Senior site manager | Site manager | Assistant site manager | General foreman |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 拢45,000 | 拢41,000 | 拢34,000 | 拢30,000 |
| East of England | 拢44,000 | 拢39,000 | 拢29,000 | 拢30,000 |
| London | 拢60,000 | 拢46,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢33,000 |
| North-east England | 拢42,000 | 拢39,000 | 拢28,000 | 拢28,000 |
| North-west England | 拢43,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢32,000 | 拢28,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 拢39,000 | 拢36,000 | 拢26,000 | 拢32,000 |
| Scotland | 拢45,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢33,000 | 拢33,000 |
| South-east England | 拢57,000 | 拢46,000 | 拢37,000 | 拢33,000 |
| South-west England | 拢45,000 | 拢40,500 | 拢32,000 | 拢28,000 |
| Wales | 拢42,000 | 拢38,000 | 拢28,500 | 拢28,000 |
| West Midlands | 拢41,000 | 拢39,000 | 拢33,000 | 拢30,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 拢45,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢30,000 | 拢28,000 |
| National average | 拢45,667 | 拢40,375 | 拢31,875 | 拢30,083 |
| 2014-2015 change | 7% | 6% | 8% | 6% |
Quantity Surveyor
| Region | Senior QS | Intermediate QS (Contract QS last year) | Assistant QS |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 拢50,000 | 拢37,000 | 拢27,000 |
| East of England | 拢51,000 | 拢41,000 | 拢28,000 |
| Greater London | 拢60,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢34,000 |
| North-east England | 拢46,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢26,000 |
| North-west England | 拢48,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢26,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 拢45,000 | 拢38,000 | 拢27,000 |
| Scotland | 拢47,000 | 拢35,000 | 拢23,000 |
| South-east England | 拢57,000 | 拢43,000 | 拢31,000 |
| South-west England | 拢50,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢28,000 |
| Wales | 拢48,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢25,000 |
| West Midlands | 拢46,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢29,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 拢52,500 | 拢42,000 | 拢24,000 |
| National average | 拢50,042 | 拢39,667 | 拢27,333 |
| 2014-2015 change | 5% | 3% | 6% |
Estimator on-site
| Region | Senior estimator | Estimator assistant | Estimator |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 拢63,000 | 拢44,000 | 拢27,000 |
| East of England | 拢61,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢31,000 |
| Greater London | 拢55,000 | 拢42,000 | 拢35,000 |
| North-east England | 拢52,500 | 拢44,000 | 拢26,000 |
| North-west England | 拢53,000 | 拢37,500 | 拢29,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 拢46,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢29,000 |
| Scotland | 拢49,000 | 拢38,000 | 拢28,000 |
| South-east England | 拢50,000 | 拢42,000 | 拢30,000 |
| South-west England | 拢51,000 | 拢40,000 | 拢28,000 |
| Wales | 拢56,000 | 拢46,000 | 拢28,000 |
| West Midlands | 拢46,000 | 拢44,000 | 拢27,500 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 拢50,000 | 拢45,000 | 拢25,000 |
| National average | 拢52,708 | 拢41,875 | 拢28,625 |
| 2014-2015 change | 6% | 3% | 3% |
On-Site Engineers
| Region | Senior engineer | Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 拢40,000 | 拢34,000 |
| East of England | 拢39,500 | 拢33,000 |
| Greater London | 拢48,000 | 拢40,000 |
| North-east England | 拢45,000 | 拢38,000 |
| North-west England | 拢45,000 | 拢35,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 拢33,000 | 拢28,000 |
| Scotland | 拢45,000 | 拢38,000 |
| South-east England | 拢42,500 | 拢38,000 |
| South-west England | 拢40,000 | 拢35,000 |
| Wales | 拢42,000 | 拢35,000 |
| West Midlands | 拢36,000 | 拢32,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 拢44,000 | 拢38,000 |
| National average | 拢41,667 | 拢35,333 |
| 2014-2015 change | 6% | 6% |
Contract/Project Manager
| Region | Contract manager | Project manager |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 拢54,000 | 拢44,000 |
| East of England | 拢50,000 | 拢63,000 |
| Greater London | 拢63,000 | 拢48,000 |
| North-east England | 拢48,000 | 拢57,500 |
| North-west | 拢54,000 | 拢47,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 拢44,000 | 拢52,000 |
| Scotland | 拢50,000 | 拢47,000 |
| South-east England | 拢62,000 | 拢45,000 |
| South-west England | 拢54,000 | 拢42,000 |
| Wales | 拢52,000 | 拢47,000 |
| West Midlands | 拢50,000 | 拢55,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 拢51,000 | 拢40,000 |
| National average | 拢52,667 | 拢48,958 |
| 2014-2015 change | 7% | 4% |
Health and Safety Professionals
| Region | H&S director | Senior H&S manager | H&S manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 拢70,000 | 拢52,500 | 拢44,000 |
| East of England | 拢65,000 | 拢48,000 | 拢37,000 |
| Greater London | 拢90,000 | 拢65,000 | 拢52,000 |
| North-east England | 拢55,000 | 拢45,000 | 拢35,000 |
| North-west England | 拢60,000 | 拢49,500 | 拢42,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 拢50,000 | 拢42,000 | 拢36,000 |
| Scotland | 拢51,000 | 拢42,000 | 拢35,000 |
| South-east England | 拢75,000 | 拢55,000 | 拢46,000 |
| South-west England | 拢72,500 | 拢52,500 | 拢41,500 |
| Wales | 拢57,500 | 拢46,500 | 拢36,500 |
| West Midlands | 拢65,000 | 拢55,000 | 拢42,500 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 拢65,000 | 拢51,000 | 拢38,000 |
| National average | 拢64,667 | 拢50,333 | 拢40,458 |
| 2014-2015 change | 3% | 3% | 3% |
Find out which firms have been judged the industry鈥檚 top 50 most people-friendly employers 鈥� and what makes them so highly rated by both 黑洞社区鈥檚 judges and their own staff. Read the Guide at
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