Salary Survey Shows HR Professionals' Pay Is Still Rising

Despite tough economic conditions and increasing levels of unemployment, HR professionals saw their pay rise on average between 2.5 and 3.5% in the past 12 months, according to the Reed Human Resources Salary Survey 2009.

Those with specialist and strategic skills were in greatest demand and consequently saw the highest increases.

Commenting on the findings of this nationwide survey, Reed Human Resources Divisional Manager Jason Willis said: "The downturn triggered many organizations to re-evaluate their strategies, which lead to an increase in demand for certain skill sets including learning and development, compensation and benefits, organisational development and redundancy management.

"We have also seen a marked rise in the number of interim opportunities, as these give employers increased flexibility regarding headcount, while still enabling them to  bring in specific expertise to address particular short-term business needs."

Why certain skills are in particular demand
Learning & Development - as headcounts have reduced, learning and development specialists are being called upon to help replace 'lost' skills by developing the remaining workforce.
Compensation & Benefits - with pay freezes and cost cutting widespread, companies are looking for creative solutions to ensure their remuneration packages continue to retain and, where necessary, also attract the best talent.
Organisational Development - tough market conditions are leading to many organisations reviewing their business strategies and structures, triggering a need for experienced HR practitioners who can help optimise the restructuring and redeploy talent to best effect.
Redundancy Management - restructuring often leads to redundancies, which need careful, expert handling by experienced HR professionals with good employment law knowledge, internal communications skills and outplacement expertise.

- Ends -

Reed Human Resources Salary Survey 2009
A free copy of the survey can be downloaded at: http://www.reedglobal.com/job-seeker/resource-centre/salary-guides.php

About Reed Specialist Recruitment
Founded in 1960, Reed is a specialist provider of permanent, contract, temporary and outsourced recruitment solutions, as well as IT and HR consulting.

Reed operates in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific and has over 3,000 permanent employees working out of 400 offices worldwide across more than 30 specialisms.

reedglobal.com enables clients around the world to interact with our recruitment services, while also enabling jobseekers globally to search for opportunities across multiple industry sectors. reed.co.uk is the UK's biggest jobsite and receives over 1.5 million job applications per month.

Reed is passionate about the environment and has an award-winning environmental programme. Reed continues to maintain its Carbon Neutral (R) status and commitment to being Carbon Responsible.

For further information please contact
Adrian Linden
PR Manager
Reed Press Office
P: +44 (0)845 241 9249
M: +44 (0)7919 967 865
E: press.office@reedglobal.com

Go to press releases