The UK has improved its position in the European pay league in the last 12 months according to the latest Towers Watson Global 50 Remuneration Planning Report.
Base salaries for professional staff in this country at both entry and middle-manager level are now ranked 13th and 7th, respectively, out of the top 15 European economies, compared to 15th and 10th in 2013. The UK still sits towards the bottom of the salary grid for entry-level employees, despite moving above Spain and Italy this year. Switzerland remains in clear poll position with entry-level pay at more than twice what an equivalent UK worker could expect to earn (£66,671 per annum (pa) compared to £27,199 pa). The UK also continues to lag significantly behind the rest of the top five (Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway and Germany) for entry-level salaries.
For middle-management pay, the UK ranks higher in terms of its base-salary offering, moving past the Netherlands, Austria and Ireland in this year’s ranking, the rest of which has seen very little change in the last 12 months. Despite the UK’s upward movement in this ranking, base salaries remain over £10,000 pa behind the top three: Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany. Darryl Davis, senior consultant in Towers Watson’s Data Services team, said: “While our latest gross salary data does show some positive movement for the UK, on the European level there still remains a considerable gap in gross salary terms between it and the Continent’s highest wage markets. For the economy as whole, though, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it means UK wages are able to grow in a healthy way while remaining competitive in cost terms versus other Western European economies.”
The report also provides insight into how much ‘buying power’ employees in each country have, by taking into consideration tax burden and cost of living factors. When these measures are taken into account, the salaries for UK employees look more competitive. Due to lower taxes and cheaper living costs than in many other European countries, entry-level professionals in the UK move up to 6th and middle managers climb to 4th place in terms of relative wealth, above France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy in both cases. Swiss employees consistently top the pay tables across all job levels with salaries over 20 percent higher than even the second-placed countries. As a result, even when taxes and cost of living are taken into account, Swiss workers still enjoy higher buying power than other Europeans.
Carole Hathaway, Global Leader of Towers Watson’s Rewards practice, said: “Our most recent Global Workforce Study shows that base pay remains the number one consideration for individuals when they are deciding to join or leave a company. The 2014 pay league tables suggest that UK employers are responding to certain pay pressures in terms of their base salary within the constraints of a challenging economy. However, employers do have the opportunity to further increase the perceived value of their overall offer by enhancing the non-financial aspects of the deal such as career-advancement opportunities, learning and development programmes and flexible-work arrangements, and to communicate the deal more effectively to employees.” From September 2015, employers of all sizes will be able to access funded training to 'grow their own' high-level tech and digital staff of the future.
The programme is also open to current employees seeking to sharpen their ICT skills and gain a full honours degree alongside their employment, while paying no student fees and earning a wage throughout.
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Business School is one of eight universities selected nationally to deliver the new Degree Apprenticeship in Technology Solutions. The government is providing two thirds of the funding for training the degree apprentices.
Other universities working with employers to shape and provide the degrees include: Aston, Exeter, Greenwich, Loughborough, University College London, University of the West of England and Winchester. Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: This is the latest example of government working in partnership with academia and industry to ensure that education and training routes are providing the skills which employers need now and in the future.” Liz Gorb, Enterprise Fellow at MMU Centre for Enterprise, said: “The aim is to integrate academic learning at degree level with work-based training. Students earn while they learn and come away with skills that are directly relevant to employers, who have an opportunity to instil their own business culture and working style from an early stage.
“The core content of the degree includes technological support, software development, database management, security and business organisation, but the integrated learning approach of workplace training and assessment makes the course highly flexible to employer demands – whatever the size or sector of the organisation.” Leading UK companies have already committed to take on digital apprentices, including: Accenture, BT, Capgemini, Ford, Fujitsu, GlaxoSmithKline, HM Revenue and Customs, Hewlett Packard, IBM, John Lewis, Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail and Tata Consulting Services. The new degree apprenticeship is launched as latest figures from the Skills Funding Agency show that demand for ICT apprenticeships is outstripping supply – with ten applicants now chasing each apprenticeship position.
