Now that 2019 is officially in the rear-view mirror, it’s a good time to show a split placement summary of the activity we saw in our network. We break down split placement data in lots of different ways. Today I will focus on salaries and practice areas.
Salaries Improve Over 2018
Overall, we’re continuing to see salaries increase. This makes sense in a tight labor market where employers must continually “up the ante” to attract the best candidates. Some notable facts:
- Salaries of US $40K and below declined by 56%. Jobs in this salary range tend to be less skilled, so there are fewer employers willing to engage the services of a recruiter to fill those roles.
- Salaries in the US $70-$80K and the US $80 – $90K range increased by 23% and 27%, respectively. These two segments had the largest salary increases in NPAworldwide split placements. Roles in these ranges represent about 17% of the split placements between NPAworldwide members.
- Salaries of US $100K or higher increased by 15%. This salary range accounts about one-third of all the deals in NPAworldwide. It is the most active salary range in our split placement summary for the year.
Practice Areas Shift Slightly
- Placements in the area of accounting / financial services increased by 10% in 2019.
- Chemical process rebounded nicely, with an increase of more than 30%. This is welcome news after a few soft years!
- Cross-industry functions, which we define as skills that cross over multiple industry (sales, marketing, human resources, etc.) declined by 25% compared to 2018.
- Engineering / manufacturing / operations continues to be the strongest practice area in NPAworldwide, although placements were slightly lower year-over-year. This sector represents just over 20% of all split placement activity in NPAworldwide.
What can you share about salary levels and placement activity within your firm? Are you seeing similar salary increases? What are the hot sectors? Please add a comment below!