Only Half of London Tech Talent Believe They’re Paid Fairly Given Capital’s Cost of Living
Hired, the career marketplace that matches tech talent with the world’s most innovative companies, has released its annual global State of Salaries Report 2019. The report found that the average salary for London tech workers has increased 6% from last year, from £58K to £62K.
This is 67% higher than the average London salary of £37.1K, yet only half of London’s techies believe they’re paid fairly given the city’s cost of living. In fact, despite their top salaries, 71% of London’s tech talent currently choose to rent rather than buy a home, standing out from the average techie in the US, Canada and France, where 45% own their own place. According to the UK House Price Index, as of March 2019, the average flat in London costs £404.2K to buy, and the average detached house costs £897.8K.
Hired’s report looks at data from its career marketplace, looking specifically at the salary trends in different cities that are shaping the global technology industry, as well as utilising survey data to better understand how compensation affects tech talent’s job satisfaction and personal fulfillment.
Other key UK findings were that:
- UK tech workers in healthcare and finance earn the most, with average salaries of £67K and £64K respectively
- Product Managers have enjoyed an £8K increase in salary from 2017 to £69K, while Data Scientists’ salaries have remained the same
- Backend Engineers are the most in-demand techies in the UK, followed by Full Stack Engineers, Frontend Engineers, Data Engineers, Mobile Engineers and Machine Learning Engineers
- 54% of tech workers globally are on the fence about forgoing a higher salary for company equity, rising to 69% in the UK.
The US is the most profitable country for tech workers – the San Francisco Bay Area continues to pay its tech talent the most, with employees earning $145K (up 2% since last year), followed by $138K in Seattle (up 5%) and $133K in New York (up 3%). However, paychecks are growing fastest in Toronto, Boston and Paris where tech workers are making 9%, 9% and 8% more than last year respectively.
Some other interesting global findings from the report include:
- 60% of tech talent plans to leave their current city within five years. For employees considering relocation to another city, Austin, Seattle, and Amsterdam are most attractive.
- Only 23% of techies with a Master’s and/or PhD believe they command high salaries because of their advanced degree.
Commenting on the report, Mahul Patel, CEO of Hired, said: “Our unique window into the key salary trends shaping the career landscape for tech talent enables us to empower tech workers to gain better visibility and transparency into the compensation available in their industry. We hope this report will make it easier for job seekers to understand their market value, create an equitable future and help them to find a job they love with a salary they deserve.”
