Money Talks

by Amanda McCulloch

With the North-east job market changing at pace and the cost-of-living crisis continuing to bite, for the first time, we have produced a mid-year edition of our salary guide in response to a unique job market.

Since 2010, our annual guide has shared information and guidance for both employers and job seekers on the latest trends and salary expectations across our recruitment specialisms.

As the market continues to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertainty of the last few years, we see that people are reassessing many aspects of their lives and believe now is a good time to find a new job - and potentially a higher salary. Although a small sample size, our Linkedin poll indicates soaring inflation is having an impact too with 47% of respondents seeking a job that pays more and 20% asking for a pay review.

National job vacancies are at a record high and in Aberdeen City and Shire, the number of online job postings has doubled over the last year. Following client feedback, we took the decision to produce the mid-year report and share information that could better inform their recruitment and retention strategies.

Salary levels for certain positions within our recruitment specialisms have adjusted between five and 10 percent. Employers are ready to recruit but certain vacancies are harder to fill than others, primarily due to candidate availability and a mismatch between salaries offered and candidate expectations on rates of pay.

Employees are interested in exploring what's out there and are weighing up the total package on offer.

The job market is candidate-driven, a marked shift from during the pandemic when redundancy and being placed on furlough fuelled candidate insecurity. Now, employees are interested in exploring what's out there and are weighing up the total package on offer. Healthcare and employer pension contributions are topical given the current news agenda, as is hybrid working and the flexibility to connect from anywhere.

There's also growing interest in an organisation's ESG and energy transition credentials and the wider employee value proposition is incredibly important too, with employees choosing places to work where they feel welcomed and appreciated, in a culture that is inclusive.

This starts during the recruitment process and continues throughout induction and onboarding as well as in the execution of responsibilities and future career mapping. Employers can demonstrate inclusivity at the recruitment stage through relatively small changes to the language in a job description, asking applicants if they have any accessibility needs before they attend an interview, and interrogating their recruitment process for unintentional bias.

I can't conclude without mentioning the counteroffer piece. We know people are ready to move to a new role but a counteroffer from their existing employer keeps them a bit longer. We understand this approach but urge employers to do all they can to understand the reasons why the employee wishes to move on and tackle those too. In isolation, a counteroffer is unlikely to retain the employee in the long term; it contributes to pay rate inflation and places the individual in a better position to negotiate a higher salary elsewhere in the future.

Taking our experiences and employment trends into account many clients cite the salary guide as a key benchmarking tool helping them set appropriate salary ranges for their positions. Download your copy of our salary guide here.