Lack of salary increases and growth opportunities identified as top issues

Two new reports published by 360Learning have indicated that the Learning and Development sector has some challenges to deal with. The reports revealed that 42% of UK L&D professionals had not received a pay rise in recent months, and a further 23% believe they do not have opportunities to develop at work.

The reports, which look at salaries, progression, and satisfaction in corporate Learning and Development (L&D) teams across the US and UK, have the following findings:

In the UK:

• The most common annual salary range was found to be between £30-£39k a year
• The average salary comes in at £31.6k
• People working in voluntary sectors were likely to earn less than £39k
• People in the private sector had the best chance of earning more than £80k
• 25% of L&D Managers earned between £50-£59k
• Administrators in the L&D environment earned the least at below £39k

In the US:

• The most common salary range was $70-$100k
• The mean salary across all roles was much higher than the UK average, at $91.2k
• 41% of L&D Managers earned more than $100k
• Instructional Designers and Learning Specialists in the L&D environment earned the least, at less than $70k

The gender pay gap is also clear in the results with:

• One-third of UK women earn less than the national average (£31,285) compared to only a fifth of men
• Half of the women in the UK earned less than £39k, compared to only 36% of men
• Only a quarter of women said they earn more than £40k, versus 41% of men in similar roles

When looking at reasons for lack of advancement, in the UK, 6% of women report that childcare and family are stopping them from growing at work, compared to just 1% of men.

In the US, 4% of people cite personal or family reasons for preventing advancement.

The studies also looked at salary satisfaction. Interestingly, despite gender and role disparities, 53% of L&D professionals in the UK and US were satisfied with their salaries, with the satisfaction increasing per age bracket.

In the UK:

• 56% of men and 55% of women were satisfied with their earnings
• 58% of men and 59% of women between 25 and 45 were also happy with their incomes.
• 42% of UK professionals haven’t had a pay rise in more than 12 months
• Of the professionals who had not had a pay rise, 54% admitted that they’re not comfortable asking for one
• Among the professionals who did receive pay rises, 52% were below the rate of inflation, with 45% as low as 1%-3% – half the rate of inflation

In the US:

• 80% of professionals have had a raise in the past two years
• 20% have had no raise at all or last had a raise three or more years ago
• If they have had a pay rise, 38% saw a 1-3% increase
• 10% of professionals had enjoyed a salary increase of 10% or more over the past 12 months. 41% were “comfortable” or “very comfortable” about asking for pay rises

As far as the impact of education and career experience on salary is concerned, the survey found that 74% of higher salaries across the UK went to people aged over 45; however, 73% of the over 45s surveyed had been in the L&D industry for less than a year.

It would appear that qualifications do not have much influence on compensation. Most of the UK respondents don’t have an L&D-related degree. Of the respondents who earned more than £70k a year – only 7% had degrees or higher. However, in the highest salary bracket, only 2% of people without an L&D-related degree earn more than £80,000 compared to 6% of respondents who do. Clearly,  L&D degrees can lead to higher salaries when it comes to senior roles.

In the US, where wages were higher than $70k, there were almost equal numbers of people with L&D degrees and those without, indicating that on-the-job training via mentors, upskilling, and learning management systems can be an effective route to progression.

The survey provided insights into the roles of mentors in earning potential. For example, the respondents who had a salary of more than $100k a year were more likely to have mentors than those earning lower salaries. Similarly, professionals with a 4% or higher salary increase in the previous 12 months were also likely to have had a mentor.

Generally speaking, mentorship numbers are higher in the US than in the UK. Of the US respondents, 65% of professionals agreed that they benefitted from mentoring, while only 47% in the UK said the same. These numbers could correlate with the fact that 20% of male and 21% of female L&D professionals in the UK feel that they lack opportunities to progress in their careers.

With 4% of US respondents and 22% of UK respondents saying they want to leave L&D, it is essential that L&D professionals feel empowered to effectively provide training and support to other employees.