Insights into UK salaries

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According to HR news, salaries across the UK saw a rise in December last year – this information came as a surprise as that month is generally a quiet month for pay rises and recruitment.

DCS Multiserve, provider of industrial cleaning services, has compiled some insights into UK salaries to paint a true picture of what the UK’s salaries look like across the country. These insights include:

• The regions with the highest – and lowest – salaries.
• The job titles with the highest – and lowest – salaries.
• Industries, job roles and genders that pay below the National Minimum Wage.

What is National Minimum Wage?

The National Minimum Wage is the minimum amount that workers can be paid per hour that they work. It is different for each individual depending upon their age.

Current National Minimum Wage (NMW) per hour

• Apprentice: £3.40
• Under 18s: £4
• 18-20: £5.55
• 21-24: £6.95

What is the National Living Wage?

The National Living Wage is applied to workers who are aged 25 years and above. The government only introduced this new rule in April 2016.

National (NLW) per hour

• 25 and over: £7.20

People aged 18-20 are most likely to be paid less than the NMW or NLW

There are 362,000 jobs paying less than the NMW or NLW, according to the Office for National Statistics. Of the 362,000 jobs paying less than the NMW or NLW:

• 1% of jobs for 18-20 year olds pay under.
• 4% of jobs for 21-24 year olds pay under.
• 3% of jobs for people 25 and over pay under.

People with part-time jobs are more likely not to be paid the NMW or NLW

In October 2016, those 362,000 jobs paying less than the NMW or NLW were to employees 16 or over –  that’s 1.3% of UK jobs.

This is divided into 2.4% of part-time jobs and 0.9% of full-time jobs. (Data taken from April of that year).

Women are more likely to be paid less than the NMW or NLW

• 7% of all jobs worked by women pay less than the minimum wage; contrasted with just 1% of jobs worked by men. That’s 230,000 jobs contrasted with 132,000.
• 1% of full-time jobs worked by women pay under the minimum wage; contrasted with just 0.7% of full-time jobs worked by men. That’s 90,000 jobs contrasted with 88,000.
• 4% of part-time jobs worked by women pay under the minimum wage; contrasted with 2.3% of part-time jobs worked by men. That’s 140,000 jobs contrasted with 44,000.

Workers in the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber are most likely to be paid less than the NMW or NLW

• 7% of jobs in the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber pay less than the minimum wage -equating to 40,000 and 38,000 jobs respectively.
• London (0.9%) and Scotland (1%) top the least-likely regions to pay less than the minimum wage, equating to 35,000 and 25,000 jobs respectively.

Hairdressing and childcare are most likely to pay below NMW or NLW

• 7% of hairdressing jobs pay below the NMW – equating to 8,000 jobs.
• 4% of childcare jobs pay below the NMW – equating to 9,000 jobs.

The highest paid jobs

The Independent investigated to reveal the highest paid jobs of 2016. The results showed that the top five highest paid jobs comprised of:

1. Chief executives and senior officials – £85.3K per year.
2. Pilots and flight engineers – £85K per year.
3. Air traffic controllers – £80K per year.
4. Transport associate professionals – £75.5K per year.
5. Marketing and sales professionals – £70K per year.

The lowest paid jobs

Business Insider UK reported on what they could see as the worst paid jobs within the UK. It revealed:

1. Waiting staff – £266.40 per week – £13,852.80 per year.
2. Theme park attendants – £273.30 per week – £14,211.60 per year.
3. Bar staff — £274.00 per week – £14,248 per year.
4. Hairdressers and barbers — £274.10 per week – £14,253.20 per year.
5. Dry cleaners — £275.40 per week – £14,320.80 per year.

Salaries and regions

The average salary of UK regions is detailed below, ordered from highest to lowest*

Scotland
Weekly: £544.02
Annual: £28,289.30

Greater South East
Weekly: £531.89
Annual: £27,658.25

South West
Weekly: £500.38
Annual: £26,019.93

East Midlands
Weekly: £478.86
Annual: £24,900.72

West Midlands
Weekly: £474.125
Annual: £24,654.5

North East
Weekly: £461.90
Annual: £24,013.60

North West
Weekly: £458.18
Annual: £23,825.24

Wales
Weekly: £454.13
Annual: £23,614.93

Yorkshire
Weekly: £453.37
Annual: £23,575.07

Northern Ireland
Weekly: £448.10
Annual: £23,301.20

Insights

• Scotland was revealed as the region with the highest average salary in the UK, earning on average £28,289.30 per annum.
• Northern Ireland was revealed as the region with the lowest average salary in the UK, estimated at around £23,301.20.
• There is a difference of £4,988.10 between the average salary of the highest paid region and the lowest paid.
• Based on the below data, the average UK salary is £24,985.27 – the closest region to this is the East Midlands at an annual salary of £24,900.72.