The role of Application Support Analyst is securing the highest salary increase of 19.4% in Scotland across all industry sectors, with seven out of the top ten increases also technology roles, according to recent data
Overall, salaries across Scotland increased by 1.8% last year according to the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends 2020 guide, an increase from 1.6% from last year.
ERP Project Managers and Data Engineers were also high at 16% and 15.6% respectively. Marketing roles, such as Digital Marketing Manager and UX Manager also scored highly at 16.7% and 12.5% respectively. The only non-tech role was the role of Accounts Receivable Clerk at 12.5%.
Top ten salary increases are:
1. Application Support Analyst (IT) – 19.4%
2. Digital Marketing Manager – 16.7%
3. ERP Project Manager – 16%
4. Data Engineer – 15.6%
5. Senior Front-End Developer – JavaScript/HTML/CSS/etc – 14.6%
6. Network Engineer – 14.3%
7. Server Support Engineer – 14.3%
8. Engineer AWS – 12.7%
9. UX Manager – 12.5%
10. Assistant/Clerk (Accounts Receivable) – 12.5%
Last year, overall 81% of employers in Scotland expected to increase their employees’ salaries. Positive salary growth is set to continue with 76% of employers expecting to increase the salaries of their workforce over the next year.
“We know that there’s a very positive attitude and open mindset towards digital transformation in the workplace, amongst both employers and employees,” said Akash Marwaha, Hays managing director in Scotland. “Employers also know they need skills to meet this. However, what they might not realise is how hard they need to work, and how much they need to invest, to find the best talent.
“For example, there’s a constant need for companies to get more and more out of the data they produce, and for their applications to work harder. The salary increase of nearly 20% for Application Support Analysts indicates the level of demand for professionals with these skills. To address this, adapting an employer’s recruitment strategy should also form part of their overall investment in technology.”
Despite salary increases, the report also shows that over a third (35%) of professionals remain dissatisfied with their salary, with the main cause for dissatisfaction from employees is that they feel their salary does not reflect their individual performance (60%).
Over the last year, 44% of professionals changed roles and a further 36% considered doing so. The main reason employees left their last role was because their salary was too low (18%), followed by a lack of career progression (15%) and a lack of career development opportunities (15%).
“Given that digital transformation is now an integral part of today’s workplace, the competition for talent with digital skills is particularly fierce, which is why for the past few years we’ve seen technology roles dominate our list of salary rises,” says Marwaha.
“The competition for these technical roles is only set to continue. Over three-quarters (76%) of organisations in Scotland say digital transformation is a focus for them, so now should be the time to hire professionals who not only have the right technical skills, but the open mindset that’s needed to make automation and digital transformation a success.
“Yet despite these pockets of double digit increases, a large proportion of the workforce remains dissatisfied and are considering their options. On one hand, employers need to make sure that their existing workforce is motivated and that there are opportunities for career progression. But there’s also an opportunity for employers to capitalise on the fact that many professionals will be planning to move jobs.”