Project Recruitment: Salaries & Job Titles!

There can be no doubt that during the economic gloom we have seen a significant squeeze on salaries in 2009/10 where project management is concerned, and indeed a recent survey of project management salaries across the South East of England showed the average salary for Senior Project Managers was £52,500 in 2009,  as opposed to £60,000 in 2008.

As a result of the econonic downtown, In general organisations paid less attention to retention strategies and a recent survey ( Badeoch & Clark ) reported that over a third of employees currently felt undervalued by their employers, and according to HireScores.com, 51% of those currently still in employment said that they were actively looking for another role in 2010. Over half of the total number of people polled said that the biggest factor in leaving a job would be if they didn’t get on with their boss or their colleagues. 51% said that career prospects, and  49% said that if the money didn’t get better they would be gone.

Interestingly , from the employers point of view, UK companies are quietly confident about their prospects for future growth, with 83% of chief executives claiming that the outlook for their business in 2010 is either good or very good, (KPMG), With only 25% feeling the outlook was weaker as a result of the recession. From a recruitment point of view, Just under two-thirds (65%) expect to maintain workforce levels during 2010, with a further 22% planning to recruit new members of staff, and encouraging only 13% intend to actively reduce their headcount further during 2010.

Here at Wellingtone we are starting to see a trend towards companies actively targeting top staff from their competitors, and indeed CBS Butler said over half of employers surveyed were now worried about losing their top staff as the UK shows signs of an economic recovery. As a result, this will inevitably mean the salaries for senior and skilled PM staff is set to show an increase in 2010/11. 

Same salary but new job title?

With 32% of staff feeling negative about their career prospects for 2010, and over half of employees not receiving a pay rise for over a year, employers are becoming adept in the creative use of increasingly elaborate job titles to boost the self worth and ego of their employees. However this can only offer a temporary solution to their recruitment and retention challenges, and inevitably the solution must lie in the provision of quality project management training and on going career development for existing staff,  while we as recruitment professionals must continue to encourage the more junior or less qualified individuals to take steps to increase their own value in the marketplace via self funded project management courses.   

Taking in to account the trend for increasingly impressive job titles has yours changed? Did it go hand in hand with a salary increase?

Relevant Links:

- Project Management Recruitment
- Project Management Jobs

Tags: project management job titles, Project Management Recruitment, Project Recruitment, project salaries