Freelancers in certain sectors are likely to have seen gains in their day rates over the past year and could expect more rate hikes to continue for 2023. Here are 20 of the top salary increases for 2023
Engineering, technology and life sciences roles have secured the top salary increases over the past 12 months according to new data. In a list of the top 20 roles which received the highest increases demonstrates the continued demand for staff across a number of skill-short industries.
Salesforce solutions architects saw an increase of 18.5%, the highest increase within the top twenty, while system design engineers in the engineering and manufacturing sector saw an increase of 18.2%.
Other job roles within the top 20 list were in legal, HR and marketing. Overall, salaries across the UK increased by 5.4% according to the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends 2023 guide, above the 2.8% witnessed last year and 1.2% the year prior.
The salary guide reports annually on recruitment intentions across the UK and this year is based on the analysis of over 10,000 salaries, alongside survey data of over 13,500 employers and professionals.
Freelancers and contractors would be wise to track salary trends every 6 months to ensure their rates are on track otherwise they could be seriously underselling themselves.
Top 20 salary increases
Rates of pay expected to continue increasing well into 2023
According to the research, over the last year 83% of employers have increased their employees’ salaries or rates of pay, compared to just 57% who did so the year before. However, over half (54%) say this is not only to retain staff but a direct result of the rise in the cost of living. Additionally, a greater proportion of employers offered staff a performance-related bonus this year (58%) compared to last year (42%).
Counteroffers are also on the rise as two-thirds (66%) of employers always or sometimes make counter offers to staff as opposed to 51% last year. Despite this, only 29% of professionals say they would be likely to take a counteroffer of better pay.
“As demand for staff has increased rapidly over the last 12 months, we’ve seen double-digit salary growth across a number of industries – particularly those with acute skills shortages,” says Simon Winfield, Managing Director of Hays UK & Ireland.
“Although the frenzied hiring we saw in Spring of this year has calmed slightly, employers are still going over and above to attract the staff they need to grow and navigate the challenges ahead,” he says.