Korn Ferry Hay Group Industry Pay Index Shows Technical, Industrial Sectors Are Top Paying
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STEM-dependent sectors – oil and gas, chemicals and life sciences –
offer top pay worldwide. In the United States, life sciences tops the
chart, paying 30 percent above average.
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Differences in pay vary across job levels within industries, trending
toward the norm as employees gain seniority.
According to new research by the Hay Group division of Korn Ferry (NYSE:
KFY), the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm,
workers in the oil and gas, chemicals and life sciences industries
out-earn their peers in other industries. Conversely, employees in
retail earn well below the average pay of their peers, when looking
across all industries.
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The study findings come from an analysis of senior manager, mid-level
and clerical pay across 78 countries included in Hay Group's PayNet
database.
Highly Technical Skillsets Pay Off
Toward the top of the list of highest paying industries around the
globe, the chemicals (9 percent above the average) and life sciences (8
percent above the average) industries pay higher than average wages
across the board. Despite the current trends in the oil and gas
industry, Hay Group analysis found this sector to be the top payer at
the global level, coming in at 22 percent above the average pay across
all industries.
At the bottom end of the scale, the retail sector typically pays 12
percent below the average, while the construction and services
industries both pay 4 percent less than the overall average.
“As global economies continue to grapple with weak consumer spending,
it’s little surprise we see industries more reliant on hourly wage labor
at the bottom of our ranking, worldwide,” said Ben Frost, a consultant
at Hay Group. “Comparatively, industries where labor is concentrated in
highly technical roles, including engineering and scientific functions,
have fared much better as far as employee pay is concerned.”
U.S. Industries Trend Higher, But Pay Varies Across Levels
In the United States, the life sciences industry emerges at the top of
the Hay Group analysis, paying 30 percent more than the average pay
across all industries and title levels. Oil and gas comes in a close
second, at 22 percent above the average, followed by chemicals (12
percent above the average) and utilities (9 percent above the average).
On the other hand, public services, including state and federal
government employees, mark the low end of the scale, typically paying
employees 10 percent less than the all industries, all title levels
average. The health care industry pays 7 percent less than the overall
average, followed by property and casualty insurance (4 percent below
the average) and health insurance (3 percent below the average).
“As on the global level, we’re seeing highly technical STEM-focused
roles paying off for workers in the United States, while government
roles hold the bottom slot in our study,” noted Frost. “On the health
care, property and casualty insurance and health insurance side, these
industries necessarily include a large number of administrative rolls,
in claims processing and similar functions, which tend to drive down the
overall pay levels seen in our analysis.”
Pay Trends Largely Consistent Across Title Levels
Hay Group analysis also examined pay within industries in the United
States across three key title level brackets: clerical or skilled manual
employees (ex. Marketing Assistant, Network Analyst, Payroll
Coordinator, etc.), professional/mid-level employees (ex. Brand/Product
Manager, Network Administrator, Accountant, etc.) and senior manager
(ex. Marketing Manager, IT Manager, Chief Accountant, etc.).
When looking at pay within industries on the basis of these title
levels, the analysis found pay trends remain largely consistent – that
is, those industries that pay more on average, pay more across all title
levels, while those that pay less, pay less across all levels.
According to the study, many industries see employee pay trend above the
average more often for lower level staff than for more senior
executives. For example, the chemicals industry typically pays clerical
or skilled entry level staff 20 percent more than the all industries
average, or about $55,460. Senior managers in the same industry,
however, tend to make only 5 percent more than the average, or about
$157,490. Similar trends emerge in the utilities, transportation,
manufacturing, construction, metals and mining, and consumer goods
industries.
Life sciences (30 percent above the average), utilities (24 percent
above the average) and oil and gas (24 percent above the average) lead
the way in above-average employee pay at the clerical and skilled manual
title level. At the senior manager level, oil and gas (29 percent above
the average) and life sciences (28 percent above the average) continue
to lead, and are joined by the high tech (11 percent above the average)
industry in providing the highest boost over average pay for senior
employees.
“As overall pay increases at more senior levels, pay moves toward the
norm across all industries, as each percentage point above or below
becomes relatively more expensive,” explained Frost. “At less senior
levels, paying employees 10 percent or even 20 percent more than the
average represents a smaller cost to employers than a 10 percent bump at
the senior manager level.”
Please note: This study should be credited to “Korn Ferry Hay
Group,” and not “Hay” or “Hays,” which are separate and unrelated
organizations.
About the study
The data was drawn from Hay Group’s PayNet database which contains data
for more than 20 million job holders in 24,000 organizations across more
than 110 countries.
About Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry is the preeminent global people and organizational advisory
firm. We help leaders, organizations, and societies succeed by releasing
the full power and potential of people. Our nearly 7,000 colleagues
deliver services through our Executive Search, Hay Group and Futurestep
divisions. Visit kornferry.com
for more information.
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