News story

Learning sector pay remains static for most

Stoke Prior, United KingdomLearning NewsBlue Eskimo

The results of Blue Eskimo’s annual work and salary survey are out – and show that fewer than 20% of people got a rise above the rate of inflation.

Summary results from this year's survey

Blue Eskimo’s survey is the most accurate, comprehensive study of pay, benefits and attitudes to work in the learning sector. It’s been undertaken every year since 2008.

This year, over 700 people completed the survey, from a wide range of roles (from administrator to senior manager) from all parts of the industry, including L&D, e-learning, training and learning software development.

Pay, always high on people’s agenda, remains mostly static despite the recovering economy. “Less than 20% of people surveyed got a rise above inflation,” said Blue Eskimo director Nick Bate. “That said, it’s an improvement on last year’s figure of around 14%. It’s a step in the right direction, even if it’s a small one.”

Those not receiving a pay rise represented more than half of those who responded.

“Pay in the sector has been going nowhere since the start of the recession,” said Bate, “and it’s one of the key factors – not surprisingly – for people wanting to change jobs. It’s good to see a slight improvement, but there’s a bottled-up need for bigger change.”

Contractors’ daily rates didn’t fare much better than employee’s salaries. “As with last year,” said Bate, “most contractors earn between £200–£400 a day. This is roughly consistent with previous years, but the higher-end daily rates are being slowly eroded.”

Those responding to the survey came roughly two thirds from the private sector and one third from the public sector.

The full results of the survey can be downloaded, free of charge, from Blue Eskimo’s website.

Blue Eskimo will be exhibiting at the Learning Technologies exhibition on 28–29 January, at Olympia Central, in London. Those attending can meet the team on stand 12 – and chat about the results of the survey.