Construction salaries for procurement and supply chain professionals 2025

This is the third year that we have run our survey of procurement and supply chain professionals working in the construction, infrastructure, house building and building services sectors. This year an impressive 410 respondents currently working for contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and cost consultants completed the survey but before I explore the changes and trends in the blog below I’d like to share our observations from the coalface.

The Recruitment Consultant’s Perspective of the Sector

While a burst of hires resulted from the recruitment merry-go-round restarting post COVID, since midway through 2023 business confidence has remained suppressed by global economic and political uncertainty as well as a particularly tumultuous period in British politics. Consequently, many companies in the construction sector have delayed committing to major decisions and the associated hires.

This continued into 2024 and is reflected in respondents’ average salaries and pay rises. That said the second half of 2024 was the first time since 2022 that there was a noticeable increase in Head of / Director level hires and that activity has continued into the start of this year. We hope that it will continue beyond that.

So, how does this all tally with the story told by the salary survey? And what is the general narrative around salaries, broader remuneration packages, motivations, holidays and activity levels?

Salaries

69% of respondents enjoyed a pay rise in the last 12 months. And the average pay rise was 4.5%. Given the average pay rises were 5.3% in 2023 and 6.0% in 2022, it would be natural to assume average salaries for a given job title had risen as well. However, that isn’t necessarily the case.

While this could reflect changing respondent samples, another explanation is that employers are hiring for potential i.e. rather than replacing an experienced (median to upper quartile salary) senior procurement / supply chain manager like for like, the employer promotes an upper quartile procurement or supply chain manager but offers a lower quartile salary for the senior procurement / supply chain manager role reflecting the candidate’s comparatively limited experience.

The result statistically is that the average salary in both the manager and senior manager categories slightly reduces. This explanation reflects the conversations we are having with hiring managers who are under cost pressures but recognise there are few “bargains” out here and so are taking a slight risk on ambitious candidates with potential.

Performance bonuses

While fewer buyers and senior buyers have been entitled to performance bonuses this year compared with 2023, the percentage of employees receiving bonuses in all other job titles has increased. The maximum potential bonus has also increased in all categories apart from procurement manager and supply chain manager.

The increased adoption of bonuses may reflect companies trying to contain salary inflation, to incentivise performance or as a retention strategy.

Company Cars and Car Allowances

The slight decrease in both the number and value of pay rises may reflect that employers are less concerned about competition for staff than they were 18 months ago, however the car allowance data provides further indications of a caution around cost bases.

Compared with December 2023 (i.e. 12 months ago) fewer staff are benefitting from either a company car or a car allowance. Irrespective of seniority. Furthermore, the average value of the car allowance for those who do benefit (excepting Head of Supply Chain and Buyer) has also decreased, often considerably.

Irrespective of the drivers of this shift, it will have a noticeable impact on the overall remuneration packages of employees.

Home and Flexible Working

While employers in the construction sector are making it clear that they want employees back in the office more, the impact of this desire has been limited over the last twelve months. The most noticeable difference is that, compared with our survey in December 2022, the percentage of staff who have to be in the office either four or five days a week has increased by 16%, while those who benefit from 3 or more days’ flexible working per week has reduced to 32% from 40%.

However, it is clear that commutes, flexible working and home working are a major factor in employees choice of employer with 82% considering it one of their top 3 decision making criteria.

Annual Leave

The range of annual leave companies offer is significant. 8% of staff receive 22 days (or fewer per year), while the same number benefit from 30 days or more. 26% of employees now enjoy at least 28 days’ holiday a year compared with 14% who enjoy 24 days or less. 77% receive 25-28 days holiday per year.

It will be interesting to see whether this polarisation of days’ holiday continues and, if so, how employers build it into their employee value proposition.

Moving Roles

The percentage of candidates planning to (27%) or open to (40%) a move in 2025 is very similar to 2024. The top 3 factors that candidates prioritise when thinking about a move have also stayed broadly the same. “Basic salary” and “Commute, travel & flexible working” both make the top 3 factors with 82% of candidates. Job security remains in third place with 43% of respondents citing it (up from 40% in December 2023).

Interestingly, and tying back to the bonus section above, the percentage of candidates citing performance bonus has increased 10% in two years and is now up to 16%. It may be that candidates recognise the cost pressure on employers but are also feeling inflation on their own budgets so view performance related bonuses as a fair compromise.

Conclusion

The overall impression from the survey is that a mild, pervasive anxiety potentially remains about the performance of the construction sector amongst both candidates and clients. Companies are looking to keep costs in cheque while employees are often focussed on stability over risk.

However, the conversations we are having with clients, our pipeline of vacancies and the latest growth predictions from the Construction Products Association (total construction output is expected to grow by 2.1% in 2025 and 4.0% in 2026) all suggest a cautiously optimistic story.

We are anticipating plenty of interesting and rewarding opportunities for candidates who want to make a move in the next 12 months. The difference compared with the couple of years after COVID will likely be that:

1. Employers are in a stronger position when negotiating and may not be as generous on flexible working, car allowance or holiday as they were; and
2. To achieve the high percentage increases candidates enjoyed from moves, they will need to be prepared to take on new responsibilities.