Boom time for project managers

APM Salary and Market Trends Survey reveals that project managers are in high demand as nearly half of all organisations look to grow their project management capability.

In return project professionals can expect an average salary of around £40,000 pa, plus a number of other benefits.

Steve Wake, chair of APM, said: “It is hugely encouraging to see project management mirroring the overall economic growth in the UK, with 70% of participants noting that their organisation is experiencing growth, and a further 47% expecting to recruit additional staff members.

He added: “This new found confidence was also expressed by individuals with one in three participants feeling positive about the next 12 months, and more than three quarters (77%) reporting high levels of job satisfaction.”

More than 2,700 project professionals took part in the study, sponsored by APM career development partner Wellingtone Project Management.

Respondents are drawn from the public and private sector and include a mix of APM members and non-members. It covers roles from project support staff to board level.

Report sponsor Vince Hines said: “The survey is the most comprehensive of its kind in the UK. It enables us to provide a further level of valuable benchmark data to our clients and candidates as part of our industry leading project management recruitment services.”

The data includes a number of comparisons, shown below:

Salary

How do qualifications affect salary?
How does membership of a project association affect salary?
Membership grade by salary

Contractor market

Average day rate
Average contract length
Contract notice

Market confidence

How do you anticipate the next 12 months?
How likely are you to change employer in the next 12 months?
How would you best describe your organisational growth?

Vince Hines, managing director of Wellingtone Project Management, will be presenting some of the initial findings from the survey at Project Challenge in Birmingham on Wednesday 25 March as part of the APM-Wellingtone career development alliance.

The full APM Salary and Market Trends Survey will be available to download for free from the APM site early next month.