Project managers work one day a week for free

The average practitioner delivers over 20% on top of their contracted hours, according to the latest Project Management Benchmark Report from Arras People.

Working one extra day a week for no extra recompense appears to be a common occurrence, yet wage levels in general still remain stagnant for the majority of project managers.

The report, in its tenth year, surveyed over 2000 practitioners and provides insights into the lives and careers of project managers and those who work in the project management profession.

Starting back in 2005 the report was initially focused on salary levels for the industry before extending to its current form to include insights into the working life of a project professional.

This year's salary levels include:

Programme managers – In the UK the average salary was £65,460 with an average day rate of £587. Practitioners paid in USD averaged $151,000 whilst those paid in Euros averaged €63,400.
Project managers – In the UK the average salary was £47,180 with an average day rate of £437. Practitioners paid in USD averaged $93,200 whilst those paid in Euros averaged €44,400.
Consultants – In the UK the average salary was £79,917 with an average day rate of £550.
Portfolio managers – In the UK the average salary was £72,170 with an average day rate of £615.
PMO managers – In the UK the average salary was £59,053 with an average day rate of £494. Practitioners paid in USD averaged $111,500 whilst those paid in Euros averaged €65,600.
Project Support – In the UK the average salary was £31,260 with an average day rate of £198.

The highlights from a wider look at project practitioners current work circumstances, development, remuneration and education include:

24% of UK-based practitioners say they are using agile concepts in their day-to-day activities, yet only 8% have a recognised agile project management accreditation.
Despite only 37% of UK-based contractors seeing their day rates rise above inflation during 2014, 82% of them enter 2015 with a smile according to the Arras People positivity index.
Amongst UK-based employees, 16% of public sector workers saw their salary increase by more than inflation compared to 43% of their peers in the private sector.
73% of UK project professionals have at least a bachelors degree education although that number increases to 85% when compared to global respondents.

Download the Project Management Benchmark Report from the Arras People website.