Lily Shippen Recruitment Agency | Salary Review

We have taken our findings from both the London and Manchester secretarial market and below outline some hot topics for 2018.

• According to totaljobs, a record 54,000 jobs were advertised on their site in the first week of 2018, 20% more than the same week last year. Our company statistics are in line with this too, with a record number of roles being released to us in the first five weeks of January. We believe that this momentum is set to continue into 2018 and feel confident about the secretarial market in both London and Manchester.
• A strong permanent market in both London and Manchester has led to a decrease in the number of candidates open to considering temporary roles. This has also meant that hourly rates have increased to attract temporary workers, especially in London.
• Benefits are becoming increasingly important to employees with many companies having to add incentives to attract and retain staff. We have seen an increase in companies in the North West putting a focus onto a health-conscious working environment with some introducing a healthy food canteen / kitchen into their offices.
• Executive Assistant salaries are starting to increase in both London and Manchester with many employers looking for an additional skill set such as business development or project work.
• Virtual Assistants are becoming increasingly popular, especially as technology develops and more people work remotely or in an agile environment. Clients can now expect to pay between £25-£32 for a good VA.
• The number of international candidates moving over to the UK to look for work has decreased, probably due to uncertainty post-Brexit.
• We have witnessed an increased in project administration roles with companies bringing in temporary staff to ensure that they are GDPR ready.
• There has been a continuous rise in companies using psychometric and skills based testing. Secretarial qualifications continue to stand out on CV’s with more candidates taking short courses to understand the industry in which they are working.
• There has been an increase in companies choosing to move either some of their functions up to Manchester or open new offices which has led to a general confidence in the North West market, especially as the property market continues to boom.

For more information about the secretarial market in London or Manchester, please contact our team.