The North West of England is cannily outdoing London when it comes to salaries for HR professionals. Pay slips in the North West are set to rise by 5 percent, compared to just 3 percent in London.
Salaries for HR specialists in internal development and pay and compensation will see the strongest growth. The growth in Northern wage levels is being fulled legal and financial services firms outsourcing mid and back office functions to the region.
Economic growth
“The North West enjoyed strong economic growth in 2015, with a number of major firms nearshoring their mid and back office functions in the region along with local organic growth in major centres such as Manchester and Liverpool,” commented Nick Allwood, Manager for HR Recruitment, Robert Walters Manchester.
The results came to light in the Robert Walters Salary Survey, which also found that in the North West, employers are looking to invest in securing top talent for internal development positions, driving up salaries for specialists in these functions.
Back office functions
Major legal and financial employers, having moved mid and back office functions to the North West, are now keen to take advantage of the highly educated workforce in the region, taking on new staff and upskilling them internally with the aim of long term retention.
Among senior roles, head of reward/compensation and benefits positions will see salaries increase by 23 percent while heads of organisational development and learning and development will see rises of 7 percent. At the more junior end, learning and development advisor roles will see salaries increase by 9 percent.
“As a result, employers are keen to invest in increasing headcount and staff development, and they are looking to fill internal development and training roles to achieve this. As a result of these strategic changes top professionals in these areas have the potential to secure significant salary increases,” Allwood concluded.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.
