Statistics reveal recruitment remains healthy in the property market

Estates Gazette, in association with PSD, today reveals the results of a comprehensive salary survey into the commercial property sector.

Estates Gazette, the UKís foremost property publication for the commercial sector, publishes the survey annually in conjunction with international recruitment company, PSD. The study paints a detailed picture of pay, attitudes and recruitment issues within the industry.

The 2005 survey reveals:
- a highly paid sector, with average salaries of almost 52,000

- an optimistic workforce, where increases and bonuses are expected

- a stable employment pattern, in which staff stay within the industry and change employer infrequently

- an attractive and evolving benefits structure

Peter Bill, editor of Estates Gazette, comments: This has been a record year for the commercial property market. Itís an industry that is extremely bonus focused, with many professionals enjoying an uplift of nearly eight per cent on last year.

Year on year weíve seen salaries increasing by between five and six per cent, says Dominic Rushby, business manager at PSD. However, the bonuses have increased more because theyíre based on performance, so they can be increased quickly in a good year and retracted in a bad one. The recent good performance of the property market means that it makes sense for people to receive a reasonable basic salary, but their big ticket is bonuses.

Pay, prospects and employment
Pay in the commercial property sector is impressively high, with an average salary of 51,800, bonuses averaging 9,740 and inflation-busting salary increases of 5.6 per cent across the industry.

Good salaries are also on offer from relatively young ages -the average pay for 26-35 year olds is 40,310.

Unsurprisingly given such inducements, employment in the sector is very stable. The average property professional has worked in the industry for just over 14 years and has spent approximately 6 years working with their current employer.

Benefits
Overall, benefits offered in the sector are on the rise, with healthcare being the most popular benefit offered to property professionals for the second year running - 64 per cent have a health plan in place. Performance related bonuses have moved into second place with 60 per cent and mobile phone bills have fallen to fourth place in 2005 compared with second place in 2004.

Recruitment
Despite the stability of employment in the sector, 83 per cent of property professionals claimed they peruse job adverts even when not looking for a job.

The survey also reveals that the most prominent way of looking for a job is to contact a recruitment agency, used by 52 per cent of those surveyed. The second form of job searching is the direct approach, with 49 per cent using this method.

In third place came word of mouth with 43 per cent, and looking for jobs using national property publications came in fourth place, with 37 per cent using this approach.

Gender
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the survey also showed that there is still a marked difference in the pay received by men and women. The average woman is paid 35,760 pa, which is almost 37 per cent lower than the rate of her male counterpart.

Charity
Estates Gazette makes a donation to Macmillan Cancer Research each year, based on the number of responses analysed. This year, for the fourth year running, 1,500 has been donated.

To request a copy of the full survey, please visit: