London, UK – January 29, 2024– Aquent, a work solutions company, has released its 2024 UK Salary Guide for marketing, creative, and digital talent. This year, it explores how marketing, creative, and design roles are expanding in response to disparities among gender pay, new and emerging technology, and the growing return to office in response to economic uncertainty. Paired with Aquent's 2023 Talent Insights Report, the UK Salary Guide provides an opportunity for companies to examine how to build high-performing teams and fairly compensate them.
“The workplace has been rapidly evolving—from where and how we work to the technology we use, and even the roles themselves. Aquent's 2024 Salary Guide gives us an important pulse check on the industry and helps us anticipate what's to come,” said John H. Chuang, Founder and CEO of Aquent. “Our comprehensive review reveals both the progress that the industry is making and the work left to do. We must use this guide to build a roadmap for a thriving, innovative, and inclusive creative, marketing, and digital world.”
Gender pay gap:
Aquent's 2024 UK Salary Guide shows that, on average, females are earning 92.3% of what their male counterparts earn, a wage gap of 7.7%.
“These findings aren't what we hope to see and represent an opportunity for improvement. Progress is nonlinear—still, industry leaders should take these findings as proof that true equity requires constant, persistent work,” said Rohshann Pilla, President of Aquent Talent. “Companies that are committed to true pay equity should see this as a galvanizing moment to push forward with their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.”
Emerging roles in high demand:
With the advancement of Generative AI and immersive technologies like ChatGPT and Midjourney, there are endless opportunities across every industry. As the world of technology and how we do business evolves, so too can the roles needed to power our new future. Aquent's data suggests the future-facing roles set to shape the job market are in Design, Engineering, and Operations, and demand for many of these roles has grown by more than 20 percent internationally in the last year. These roles include:
- Concept Artist (Salary Range: £35-75K)
- AR / XR / VR Engineer (Salary Range: £40-80K)
- Immersive UX Researcher (Salary: £40-120K)
Mapping compensation trends:
The 2024 UK Salary Guide data also highlights key trends when it comes to skill sets that are highly sought after or facing shrinking interest. Based on our own data year-on-year, here are the common themes:
- Growing interest in Project/Account Management, Data Analysis and Branding with salaries up an average 6.9-9% YoY
- Slow growth – especially compared to 2022/23 – on UX and HR/Business Support with just 3.6% increase in a year of high inflation
- Salaries slipping for seniors in Design & Creative, Marketing, Content and Social with many advertised rates seeing upper ranges drop by a 2% average – a dip that indicates salaries that skyrocketed in recent years due to talent shortages may be facing a correction
Aquent's 2024 UK Salary Guide is available here.
