The Annual Events Industry Salary Survey: The results are in!
This summer, over 1200 event profs filled in the Annual Events Industry Salary Survey giving the industry a robust and credible look at salaries, benefits and working patterns. We asked Robert Kenward, Chief Talent Office at YOU Search & Select, Founder of EventHubs.Jobs and instigator of the survey to share some of the insights with us:
Salary is important
“There was roughly a 50/50 split between those that were happy with their salary and those that weren’t. Everyone is worried about cost of living and we often hear that companies are focusing on rebuilding and so they aren’t paying well so it’s good to see that nearly half of respondents are happy with their salaries.
“Of the people who are unhappy with their salaries, the biggest reason is that it hasn’t risen with inflation and the second highest response was that they do far more that their job role. This confirms that internal pressure to over perform and over deliver as we re-build is making lots of people unhappy. The trend to combine two job roles into one is taking its toll on employees.
Benefits: as individual as possible
“To stay ahead of the competition, to stay relevant and to move forward employers need to do a lot more than pay a good salary. If one good thing has come out of the pandemic it’s that people are no longer seen as the same; wants and needs differ wildly from person to person and people are demanding to be treated differently. No one really wants to work (otherwise we’d do it for free) and whilst this has always been the case, the pandemic has allowed people be more comfortable about voicing this and to ensure that companies appreciate their needs too. Some say this comes across as a little entitled, but the progressive companies are realising this is the ‘new normal’ and becoming much more people centric in their approach to benefits and the way they treat their employees.
Hybrid working; a balanced approach
“Hybrid working was always going to feature very heavily in the survey. 63% of the industry already benefits from hybrid working, but employers should take note that over 85% of candidates say that they will now only consider a role if it offers hybrid or remote only working. People need a balanced approach now of a few days at home and a few days in the office.
Bouncing Back
“It’s very encouraging to see that over half of companies are back to pre-pandemic levels or actually doing better that they were before. Confidence in the industry is improving and as work forces across all industries are now more disconnected, the events industry has a huge opportunity to ensure that events and creative communications are viewed as an essential mechanism for bringing disparate teams together and cascading messages.
What does the future hold?
“Nobody can accurately predict what the future will hold, but given the trends that this survey has unearthed, I can say that the future of employment will be based on a much more flexible, personalised and fluid way of working. Progressive companies will be keen to focus on ways to support their teams; whether with truly flexible working, a four-day week or health and well-being provisions. The support should start right at the beginning and be an integral part of the recruitment process; job descriptions need to state the business needs and how the employee can deliver value – even to the point of agreeing on the output that’s needed, rather than fixating on the hours the role needs to occupy no matter the output.
“The survey also showed that personalisation is key when discussing benefits, working patterns and locations. HR teams who are proactive, who work at understanding their employee needs and continually asking, adapting and flexing will reap the rewards. Giving employees the support, guidance and the tools they really need (as opposed to the things that the employer thinks they need) will result in better staff retention and loyalty, and enhanced company culture and employer branding. If more companies adopted this approach, our industry future would be very bright indeed.”
The Annual Events Industry Salary Survey was created by EventHub.Jobs in association with Mash Media. The full white paper is available as a free download from EventHub.Jobs where you can register to receive it directly to your inbox.
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