Senior HR roles see pay growth in 2024

There is a clear correlation between seniority for HR job roles and average salaries for those roles, according to the latest analysis from Incomes Data Research. And pay for some roles appears to have grown significantly when compared to our previous survey. Pay for HR directors has grown most significantly. Pay for this role averages £111,982, up from £100,224 in 2023 – an increase of 12%. This hints at the possibility that many HR directors have had significant increases in pay between this survey and last conducted at the end of 2022. Elsewhere, pay growth for training managers is also notable. Here, the typical salary is £52,000, up from £41,146 (or 26%). This may reflect the importance companies place on training as a means of retaining staff in a more difficult labour market than previously. Pay for HR function heads averages £73,246 – which represents an increase of 6% on the previous year.

Looking at lower-paid roles, the average for HR assistants is showing at £25,187, which is similar to the average salary for this role last year. Pay for HR advisors averages £40,556 – an uplift of 8% from 2023. Again, this points to the possibility of above-average pay rises for staff in these roles. HR advisor salaries average £40,556, up from £37,516 in 2023 – an increase of 8%.

Comparison of annual HR job role salaries at the same level from 2023 to 2024 

The gaps in average salaries for HR roles are widest at the most junior and the most senior levels. At the lower end, the gap between HR assistants and HR advisers is 38%. Meanwhile at the top, the gap between function heads and directors is only a little narrower at 35%. The gaps in average salaries between the other jobs are much narrower in comparison. The gap between the average salaries for HR advisers and HR managers is 20%; that between HR managers and HR business partners (HRBPs) is just 12%, and the gap in average salaries for HRBPs on the one hand and HR function heads on the other is 21%.

The survey was conducted in February 2024 and received responses from 34 organisations across the economy: 34% from the private sector; 34% from the public sector; and 28% from the not-for-profit sector.