Survey finds tightening budgets and static pay

06 Jan 2012

by: Margaret Snell

Tighter training budgets and static pay are the main findings of a survey published by learning and development recruiter Blue Eskimo.

Over 800 people from within the learning industry and corporate learning departments responded to the survey in December, answering questions on salaries and work.

Nick Bate, Blue Eskimo director said: “The survey uncovered a mixture of both good and bad news. One of the worsening trends is the considerable tightening of learning budgets. Most industries are finding things tough, but so far the learning industry has weathered the economic downturn pretty well. But with 90% of training companies saying that their customers are reducing their budgets, there could be quite a squeeze ahead."

Salaries on the whole remained static with around 60% going without a pay rise, 30% getting a rise in line with inflation and only 10% seeing an increase in real terms. Freelance rates saw an overall drop and around 30% of those who responded took a pay cut to secure a new role.

Balancing out the bad news the number of people who said they were happy, or very happy, in their jobs rose to around 85%. Also, some benefits such as pensions and sick pay increased - possibly because they are a more cost- and tax-efficient way to reward employees.

 

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