Slide
Blacklane Chauffeur Service
Slide
Blacklane Chauffeur Service

The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2016 report

The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2016 report

The PA and secretarial market has, for the first time since the end of the recession, seen the PA-to-Manager ratio decrease significantly, with large organisations and smaller companies introducing PAs to their business again. The increased demand for PAs has pushed salaries up, some increasing by up to 8%, with an average salary increase for Personal Assistants of 4% in 2015. Steve Heard, Director at Hays PA & Secretarial, comments

The most in demand PAs have received salary increases of on average 4% in the past year, with salary increases not localised to London and the south east but widespread across the UK.

In recent years we have seen an increasing demand for Personal Assistants who can support the overall organisation, as well as their boss, and take on additional duties. Todayโ€™s PAs view their profession as highly rewarding and are offered competitive salaries for their experience, establishing the role of a PA as an aspirational career path for graduates and new entrants into the profession.

Our research shows that PAs prioritise their work-life balance as the most important factor when considering a new role, second only to salary; respondents to our survey said they would change their flexible working options to improve this, however only a quarter currently make use of the flexible working options they are offered. We know that a skilled PA or EA is vital for bosses to successfully fulfil their own job, so if bosses are to retain their assistants they must listen to them. PAs in our Salary Guide Survey told us they wanted flexible working options but equally must speak up and tell their bosses what they are looking for.

Survey findings
Findings from a survey of more than 500 Personal Assistants revealed that almost all (99%) feel they have the skills needed to fulfil their current role, yet 58% of them feel there is no scope for career progression within their organisation. As 41% of Personal Assistants feel uncertain about their career prospects this year, it should be a concern for employers that 60% of the respondents to our survey stated they were looking to move jobs within 12 months.

Nearly half (49%) of Assistants said their salary had increased in the last 12 months and even more (52%) are optimistic about their pay in the year to come and expect their salaries to increase in the next 12 months. Despite more than half (56%) of Assistants saying they are unhappy with their salary, only a quarter had asked for a pay rise in the last year and of those only 11% were successful in their request.

More than two-thirds of respondents (67%) said the most important benefit to them when considering a new role is flexible working, followed by more than 25 days annual leave (62%) and then an above statutory contributory pension scheme (49%).

Nearly a quarter (23%) of Personal Assistants rate their work-life balance as the most important factor when considering a new role apart from salary; only 14% make use of remote working or home working in their current role and 63% do not make use of any flexible working options. Despite this, Personal Assistants are happier with their work-life balance better than the average UK worker, with 61% of respondents rating their work-life balance as very good or good, compared to a UK average of 58%.

PA to C-Suite level
Region Typical salary 2016 Minimum salary 2016 Maximum salary 2016
Midlands ยฃ35,000 ยฃ28,000 ยฃ38,000
East of England ยฃ32,000 ยฃ23,000 ยฃ35,000
London ยฃ45,000 ยฃ40,000 ยฃ55,000
North East England ยฃ30,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ35,000
North West England ยฃ35,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ40,000
Northern Ireland ยฃ28,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ32,000
Scotland ยฃ35,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ38,000
South East England ยฃ37,000 ยฃ30,000 ยฃ45,000
South West England ยฃ30,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ35,000
Wales ยฃ25,000 ยฃ22,000 ยฃ30,000
Yorkshire and the Humber ยฃ35,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ40,000
National Avg. ยฃ33,364    
2015-2016 change 1%    

 

PA (non-board level)
Region Typical salary 2016 Minimum salary 2016 Maximum salary 2016
Midlands ยฃ25,000 ยฃ20,000 ยฃ28,000
East of England ยฃ24,000 ยฃ22,000 ยฃ28,000
London ยฃ36,000 ยฃ30,000 ยฃ40,000
North East England ยฃ22,000 ยฃ18,000 ยฃ28,000
North West England ยฃ26,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ28,000
Northern Ireland ยฃ24,000 ยฃ22,500 ยฃ30,000
Scotland ยฃ24,000 ยฃ22,000 ยฃ28,000
South East England ยฃ28,000 ยฃ25,000 ยฃ30,000
South West England ยฃ21,000 ยฃ18,000 ยฃ25,000
Wales ยฃ19,000 ยฃ18,000 ยฃ22,000
Yorkshire and the Humber ยฃ25,000 ยฃ22,000 ยฃ28,000
National Avg. ยฃ24,909    
2015-2016 change 5%    

 

Specialist Administrator
Region Typical salary 2016 Minimum salary 2016 Maximum salary 2016
Midlands ยฃ18,000 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ22,000
East of England ยฃ22,000 ยฃ22,000 ยฃ28,000
London ยฃ28,000 ยฃ30,000 ยฃ40,000
North East England ยฃ18,000 ยฃ18,000 ยฃ22,000
North West England ยฃ19,000 ยฃ24,000 ยฃ28,000
Northern Ireland ยฃ19,000 ยฃ18,000 ยฃ24,000
Scotland ยฃ18,000 ยฃ17,000 ยฃ20,000
South East England ยฃ17,000 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ23,000
South West England ยฃ20,000 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ24,000
Wales ยฃ17,500 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ20,000
Yorkshire and the Humber ยฃ20,000 ยฃ17,000 ยฃ23,000
National Avg. ยฃ19,682    

 

Secretary
Region Typical salary 2016 Minimum salary 2016 Maximum salary 2016
Midlands ยฃ20,000 ยฃ18,000 ยฃ22,000
East of England ยฃ22,000 ยฃ20,000 ยฃ25,000
London ยฃ32,000 ยฃ28,000 ยฃ35,000
North East England ยฃ16,000 ยฃ15,000 ยฃ19,000
North West England ยฃ18,500 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ22,000
Northern Ireland ยฃ21,000 ยฃ20,000 ยฃ25,000
Scotland ยฃ22,000 ยฃ20,000 ยฃ24,000
South East England ยฃ22,000 ยฃ20,000 ยฃ26,000
South West England ยฃ18,000 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ22,000
Wales ยฃ15,500 ยฃ14,000 ยฃ17,000
Yorkshire and the Humber ยฃ18,000 ยฃ16,000 ยฃ22,000
National Avg. ยฃ20,455    
2015-2016 change 8%