First national survey launched to understand salaries in the UK marine industry
by Richard Broughton 15 Aug 2019 11:00 UTC
Marine Industry Salary Survey © Marine Resources
Specialist recruitment consultancy, Marine Resources, has partnered with British Marine and Maritime UK to launch the first ever national salary survey for the marine industry. This unique piece of research aims to gain a comprehensive insight into the salaries currently commanded by professionals across the sector, as well as support businesses by highlighting common challenges and key trends.
Through an online questionnaire, the Marine Industry Salary Survey 2019 is appealing to both employees and employers to share information on remuneration and recruitment practices. The analysed data will be published through the survey's partners and the media, and all participating employers will receive a report detailing the survey's complete findings. The results will highlight current market rates for specific roles, the positions that present the most significant recruitment challenge, and help ensure fair salaries for staff. It is also expected to be particularly beneficial for organisations looking to fill entry and mid-level roles, where little marine-specific salary data is currently available.
James Ward, Marine Resources' managing director, commented: "People don't often talk about how much they earn or pay others, but at an industry level, we've always believed that salary information should be transparent. Every day we help people make career decisions, and we are committed to keeping our candidates, and the marine market as a whole, fully informed as to the salaries they can command before making such important choices. Equally, for employers, having accurate intelligence on current salary levels for a wide range of common roles will assist them in their recruitment efforts, and help them as they plan for the future in the UK's post-Brexit economy."
As well as gathering information on salaries, the employee survey poses questions relating to market sector and region, the nature of employment (whether the role is permanent or on a contract basis), and levels of satisfaction with employment packages. The research also explores whether those working in the industry have transferred skills from other industries or if they would consider working in another, unrelated sector. For employers, the survey asks about remuneration for specific roles, recently and commonly recruited positions, and the functions they find challenging to resource and reasons why.
Harry Theochari, Chair of Maritime UK, said: "Maritime UK is very pleased to offer our support to this initiative from Marine Resources. The salary information should be really helpful, both to employers and to individuals, and the wider information will help us to support the sector in getting some hard facts on what's really going on. Repeating this survey over time will show us the trends, and that's really valuable information. We hope that the response rate is high, and we will certainly be doing our bit to encourage people to respond."
Dean Smith, Commercial Director at British Marine, added: "British Marine is always looking to add value and offer market insight to our members. We are often asked for guidance on salary benchmarking to ensure the sector remains competitive and skills gaps can be better understood. Equally, as part of our lobbying efforts, this type of intelligence can potentially inform our discussions with the Government and help drive positive change at a legislative level. Overall, we believe being part of the Marine Industry Salary Survey 2019 is an appropriate way of using data to open up the discussion about a crucial part of people's working lives - and fundamentally strengthen the industry."
The survey can be completed anonymously, and anyone wishing to take part can use this link to add their information and support the initiative. All employees that finish the survey will also have the chance to win £100 in Amazon vouchers.
Take the survey here.