2 minute read

Levelling up data positions: Regional salary differences and remote working

In the UK, London has always been the centre for the highest paying positions followed by other major cities, but with the development of remote working capabilities this trend may not be true much longer. A recent report has shown that the gap between pay for similar data jobs across the UK has been decreasing rapidly.

Regional differences in salaries have been a longstanding feature of work in the UK for decades, particularly when comparing more rural areas to central business hubs such as London, Birmingham and Edinburgh, but this has been changing. Data and analytics recruitment firm Harnham has identified that UK regional salaries compared to London have been reduced by up to 75% in the last twelve months due, largely, to remote working caused by the pandemic and a focus on skill retention. A survey of more than 9,000 respondents within the data and analytics spheres exposed the shift in salary attitudes and boundaries across businesses of all sizes.

Data workers are now spending less than two days a week in the office, meaning there is less of a reason to be located close to the office for a daily commute. People are opting for once-a-week long commutes by train or road to take advantage of developing a life outside of major cities where housing costs are at record highs and outdoor spaces come at a premium.

Is the playing field more level?

Very simply, improved remote working facilities – accelerated by the pandemic – has forced businesses that traditionally operated with a centralised office environment to increase salaries to retain talent as people have moved out of the cities and into rural environments. It was well documented in the first phase of the pandemic that people were able to operate their specific business functions just as well remotely, which then led to top talent moving out of the cities as remote working became far more accessible.

In a bid to recruit the talent moving to more rural areas, non-London-based businesses increased their salaries. Rural businesses also increased their salaries to retain rural staff that can now find themselves viable for London-based jobs via remote working, which traditionally hold higher salaries.

There is a data skills shortage in the UK (that DataIQ and its members have discussed here and here in recent weeks), and this has increased the pressure on businesses to raise their salaries at multiple levels in a bid to keep staff. It was reported that specialisms such as risk analytics and digital analytics had entry level positions closing the regional salary gap by 65% and 73% respectively. This has led to examples where non-London based businesses have been offering salaries that are higher than those offered in London – a feat that is seldom seen in the UK – and one that is thought to become a more common occurrence for a range of industries soon.

For example, those working in risk analytics as mid-level decision systems experts can expect a salary of c.£55,000 inside or outside of London, while entry-level marketing and insight pricing analytics staff can now often out-earn London-based colleagues by £4,000. However, London-based organisations have been increasing their salaries to compete, with some London-based campaign and CRM analysts earning 18.1% more than the previous year – a significant increase; the difference is businesses are fighting to retain talent outside of London as remote working becomes the norm in a painfully competitive market.

A silver lining?

The one major benefit to take from the growth in data wages is that if businesses are increasing their salary budgets to retain data staff, the value of data is being taken more seriously by more businesses. The validation of data and proving its use case value has been a top priority for data offices for several years. As staff are now constantly being poached by rivals in a skill-deprived market, it is reassuring to see that the salary increases are reflecting the importance of having a fully staffed and functional data office. However, it has been noted by some that perhaps the industry has entered an era of wage inflation where demand for skills and staff could be eclipsing the talent possessed by new recruits.

Ultimately, the data talent drought that is being experienced is unlikely to go away any time soon as more businesses increase their data maturity and embrace the benefits of data for the first time. This means that businesses will have to continue fighting for staff retention, even when staff members move away from the central office, and this will lead to increased salaries as well as the development of other staff perks.

Read the full salary report here.

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