Professional jobs in the engineering industry in Scotland were among the positions commanding top salary increases for 2022.
The latest data from recruitment company Hays showed that engineering roles and electrical or mechanical engineers took the top spots, with salary increases of up to 28%.
The latest Salary & Recruiting Trends guide, which includes more than 10,000 salaries across 16 industry areas, showed that jobs in IT and technology still featured strongly in the top 20, with cyber security analysts and software developers in third and fourth places respectively; with an increase of over 24%.
New entries in the list include events managers in fifth place (23% increase), recruitment advisors in sixth (21% increase) and import/export administrators in tenth place, with an increase of 19% in the last 12 months.
Hays Scotland director Keith Mason said that science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills are still highly sought after, with engineering projects in Scotland likely to be a significant economic driver.
“Infrastructure in Scotland is anticipated to grow hugely over the next five or ten years, fuelled mainly by the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan, which promises over £26bn of sustainable build projects and investment in renewables.
“This will mean that engineering skills right across the board will become increasingly in demand,“ he continued, adding: “Our survey is already showing salary increases of around 17% to 18% for positions such as automation engineers and manufacturing managers.
“Positions such as field service engineers are also in demand, as prolonging the life of a valuable piece of equipment for a salary of £40,000, is preferable to purchasing a new piece of equipment for £200,000.”
New entries in the list reflect changing circumstances in recent years, with employers responding to the effects of the pandemic, Brexit and skill shortages overall.
A new entry at number five, events managers, can now enjoy a salary of around £37,000 - a 23% increase in 2022.
“Conferences and corporate events are huge drivers for the hospitality industry,” said Mason. “This is a sign of organisations wishing to re-establish connections with customers post-Covid.
“A good events manager will act as an effective sales person for an organisation, helping them to both boost sales and increase brand visibility in a very competitive sector.”
As businesses are investing in new processes and procedures to manage Brexit, the role of import/export administrator is a new entry at number 10, with a salary increase of over 19%, bringing the average salary for this type of role to around £25,000.
The overall salary increase in Scotland in 2022 was 5.7%, compared to 5.4% across the UK.
The top salary increases for 2022 are:
Job |
Industry |
Salary (average 2022) |
% Salary increase since 2021 |
|
1. |
Fabricator/Welder |
Engineering Trade (Manufacturing) |
£32,000 |
28% |
2. |
Head of Tax/Director |
Taxation (In-house) |
£125,000 |
25% |
3. |
Cyber Security Analyst |
Technology (Cyber) |
£56,000 |
24.4% |
4. |
Product Manager |
Technology (Software Development) |
£62,000 |
24% |
5. |
Events Manager |
Marketing (Events) |
£37,500 |
23% |
6. |
Talent/Resourcing Advisor |
HR (Recruitment & Resourcing) |
£40,000 |
21.2% |
7. |
Marketing Analyst/CRM Analyst |
Marketing (Insight) |
£35,000 |
20.7% |
8. |
Head of Business Intelligence |
Technology (Leadership) |
£90,000 |
20% |
9. |
Salesforce Solution Architect |
Technology (CRM) |
£105,000 |
19.3% |
10. |
Import/Export Administrator |
Business Support |
£25,000 |
19% |
11. |
Financial Planning & Analysis Manager |
Accountancy & Finance |
£72,500 |
18.9% |
12. |
Head of IT Security |
Technology (Leadership) |
£95,000 |
18.8% |
13. |
Engineering Operative |
Engineering Trade (Manufacturing) |
£26,000 |
18.2% |
14. |
Manufacturing Manager |
Engineering & Manufacturing (Defence) |
£65,000 |
18.2% |
15. |
Machine Learning Scientist |
Technology (Data & Advanced Analytics) |
£65,000 |
18.2% |
The research is based on a survey carried out between August and September, with 13,421 responses from professionals and employers across the UK; including 900 from Scotland.
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