The people profession has grown by 42% in the last decade
The growth of the people profession
The size of the people profession has grown by 42% between 2011 and 2021, compared to the general UK workforce only growing by 10%. Within that period, junior roles, such as HR and industrial relations officers, have grown by 47% and senior roles, such as HR managers and directors, have grown by 40%.
- General UK workforce: +10%
- People profession: +42%
- Junior HR roles: +47%
- HR managers and directors: +40%
Source: Annual Population Survey accessed through NOMIS, using January 2011–December 2011 and January 2021–December 2021 survey data
The people profession is slightly less ethnically diverse than the workforce in general
Comparative ethnic diversity of the people profession
89% of people professionals are white and 11% are from ethnic minorities. This remains slightly above the total UK workforce average. It is more diverse than STEM industries and sales, media and marketing, but is less diverse than the legal and IT professions.
- Average UK workforce: white: 88%; ethnic minorities: 12%
- STEM industries: white: 91%; ethnic minorities: 9%
- Sales, media and marketing: white: 90%; ethnic minorities: 10%
- People profession: white: 89%; ethnic minorities: 11%
- Legal: white: 85%; ethnic minorities: 15%
- IT: white: 82%; ethnic minorities: 18%
Source: Annual Population Survey Three-Year Pooled Dataset (January 2018–December 2020)
The people profession has more female professionals overall
Comparative gender split of the people profession
63% of the profession is female and 37% is male. This is more pronounced than in the UK workforce in general and in other accredited professions, such as finance and legal.
- General UK workforce: male: 53%; female: 47%
- People profession: male: 37%; female: 63%
- Finance: male: 45%; female: 55%
- Legal: male: 43%; female: 56%
Source: Annual Population Survey Three-Year Pooled Dataset (January 2018–December 2020)
All figures rounded to whole numbers.
11% of people professionals have a disability
Percentage of people professionals with a disability
The percentage of those with a disability (under the Equality Act 2010) in the people profession is slightly lower than in the UK workforce as a whole (14%).
- General UK workforce: 14%
- People profession: 11%
Source: Annual Population Survey Three-Year Pooled Dataset (January 2018–December 2020)
All figures rounded to whole numbers.
90% of people professionals are employed by organisations; only 10% are self-employed
Comparative employment status of people professionals
The majority of people professionals are employed by organisations (90%). Only 10% are self-employed, compared to 15% of the whole workforce. And just 16% work part-time, compared to 26% of the whole workforce.
- People profession: employed: 90%; self-employed: 10%
- General UK workforce: employed: 85%; self-employed: 15%
- People profession: full-time: 85%; part-time: 16%
- General UK workforce: full-time: 74%; part-time: 26%
Source: Annual Population Survey Three-Year Pooled Dataset (January 2018–December 2020)
All numbers rounded to whole numbers.
38% of people professionals work in London or the South East
Percentage distribution of people professionals across the UK
Across the UK, the people profession is most represented in the South East and London. In these regions, there is an over-representation of HR professionals compared to the general workforce.
On the other hand, the proportion of HR professionals is lowest in Northern Ireland and Wales. HR representation in these regions is more in line with the general workforce.
- North East region: distribution of HR: 3%; distribution of general UK workforce: 4%
- North West region: HR: 8%; general UK workforce: 11%
- Yorkshire and The Humber region: HR: 7%; general UK workforce: 8%
- East Midlands region: HR: 6%; general UK workforce: 7%
- West Midlands region: HR: 9%; general UK workforce: 9%
- East region: HR: 9%; general UK workforce: 10%
- London region: HR: 19%; general UK workforce: 15%
- South East region: HR: 19%; general UK workforce: 14%
- South West region: HR: 7%; general UK workforce: 8%
- Wales: HR: 3%; general UK workforce: 5%
- Scotland: HR: 8%; general UK workforce: 8%
- Northern Ireland: HR: 2%; general UK workforce: 3%
Source: Annual Population Survey accessed through NOMIS.
All figures rounded to whole numbers.
There is a large salary variation within the industry
People profession salaries
Median salaries across all roles in the profession range from 22,802 for an HR assistant role to £113,628 for an HR director role.
These are overall medians, and there will be variation according to region, industry and level of responsibility within role.
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Median salary and salary range in 2022:
HR roles:
- HR Director: median: £113,628; lower quartile: £88,629; upper quartile: £146,580
- Head of HR: median: £82,626; lower quartile: £70,232; upper quartile: £99,977
- HR Manager/Business Partner (Rank 2): median: £59,951; lower quartile: £50,958; upper quartile: £70,742
- HR Manager/Business Partner (Rank 3): median: £47,731; lower quartile: £40,571; upper quartile: £55,367
- HR Officer (Rank 4): median: £40,118; lower quartile: £34,100; upper quartile: £46,135
- HR Officer (Rank 5): median: £33,860; lower quartile: £28,781; upper quartile: £38,939
- HR Assistant (Rank 7): median: £24,449; lower quartile: £20,781; upper quartile: £28,116
- HR Assistant (Rank 8): median: £22,802; lower quartile: £19,381; upper quartile: £26,222
Graduate/Trainee HR roles:
- HR/Training Administrator (Rank 5): median: £34,982; lower quartile: £29,734; upper quartile: £40,229
- HR Graduate Trainee: median: £26,493; lower quartile: £22,519; upper quartile: £30,467
HR Consultant roles:
- HR Consultant (Rank 2): median: £53,829; lower quartile: £45,755; upper quartile: £63,519
- HR Consultant (Rank 3): median: £43,317; lower quartile: £36,819; upper quartile: £50,248
Learning and Development roles:
- Learning and Development Director: median: £88,692; lower quartile: £69,180; upper quartile: £114,413
- Learning and Development Manager (Rank 1): median: £66,635; lower quartile: £56,640; upper quartile: £80,629
- Learning and Development Manager (Rank 2): median: £53,517; lower quartile: £45,490; upper quartile: £63,150
- Learning and Development Manager (Rank 3): median: £42,800; lower quartile: £36,380; upper quartile: £49,648
- Learning and Development Officer (Rank 4): median: £37,481; lower quartile: £31,859; upper quartile: £43,103
- Learning and Development Officer (Rank 5): median: £29,777; lower quartile: £25,310; upper quartile: £34,244
Employee Relations roles:
- Employee Relations Manager (Rank 2): median: £58,163; lower quartile: £49,439; upper quartile: £68,633
- Employee Relations Manager (Rank 3): median: £44,320; lower quartile: £37,672; upper quartile: £51,411
- Employee Relations Officer: median: £35,424; lower quartile: £30,110; upper quartile: £40,738
Organisational Development roles:
- Head of Organisation Development: median: £83,921; lower quartile: £71,333; upper quartile: £101,545
- Organisational Development Manager (Rank 2): median: £50,223; lower quartile: £42,689; upper quartile: £59,263
- Organisational Development Manager (Rank 3): median: £46,070; lower quartile: £39,160; upper quartile: £53,441
- Organisational Development Officer: median: £32,149; lower quartile: £27,327; upper quartile: £36,972
Source: Croner’s Salary Search software (August 2022)
At the top level, men are paid more than women
People profession gender pay gap
The biggest gender pay gap across the profession exists at manager and director level, where men are paid 3.1% more than women. At mid-level, the gender pay gap is in favour of women and at the most junior level, men earn slightly more.
The profession gender pay gap is much lower than that of the general workforce (where men are paid 15% more than women).
At manager and director level, male people professionals are paid +3.1% more than females.
At mid-level, female people professionals are paid 2% more than males.
At junior level, male people professionals are paid 1.7% more than females.
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2021, ASHE table 14.12, All employee jobs, Median gender pay gap. Office for National Statistics (August 2022)
Recruitment specialists have been most in demand in the last year
Most popular senior level job postings
The most popular job postings for top-level people professionals include recruitment managers, talent acquisition managers and HR managers. The top five companies searching for HR managers and directors include the NHS, Health Education England, Amazon, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Top job postings for managers and directors (July 2021–July 2022)
- HR managers: 2,877 jobs
- Recruitment managers: 4,118 jobs
- Talent acquisition managers: 1,537 jobs
- Director of HR: 1,524 jobs
- HR operations manager: 702 jobs
Top 5 companies recruiting HR managers and directors (July 2021–July 2022)
- NHS: 1,730 jobs
- Health Education England: 440 jobs
- Amazon: 293 jobs
- Deloitte: 255 jobs
- PricewaterhouseCoopers: 198 jobs
Source: Job postings and specialised skills data for HR managers and directors (Lightcast, 2022)
Talent acquisition and I&D roles have increased significantly over the last five years
Shifts in job postings over the last 5 years
While HR manager roles have been advertised the most since 2017, 470 job postings have been for Directors of Talent Acquisition and 172 for Directors of Inclusion & Diversity – the majority for both having been advertised in the last year.
When we look at changes to job postings over a five-year period (July 201–July 2022), we note some interesting shifts:
- Around 470 job postings have advertised Directors of Talent Acquisition jobs, half of those being advertised within the last year
- Directors of Diversity & Inclusion jobs have increased significantly over this period, with a total of 172 jobs being advertised, 121 of which have been advertised within the last year.
- By far, the largest number of people profession jobs advertised over the five year period have been for HR managers, with just under 31K unique job posts, 9,322 within the last year.
Source: Job postings and specialised skills data for HR managers and directors (Lightcast, 2022)
Employee relations is the most prized specialised skill
Top in-demand specialised skills
In job postings for HR manager and directors between July 2017 and July 2022, employee relations was the most-wanted specialist skill, followed by talent acquisition, labour law, performance management and service quality.
Source: Job postings and specialised skills data for HR managers and directors (Lightcast, 2022)
CIPD membership is the top requirement in senior people professional job postings
Top qualification requirements in senior people professional job postings
Over 20,000 senior people professional job postings between July 2017 and July 2022 asked for general CIPD membership. The other top requirements and qualifications included CIPD Level 5, CIPD Level 7, Chartered CIPD membership, and General Certificate of Secondary Education.
- The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Certified: 20,103 job postings
- CIPD Level 5: 3,315 job postings
- CIPD Level 7: 1,924 job postings
- Chartered Member of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD): 1,802 job postings
- General Certificate of Secondary Education: 969 job postings
- PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments 2): 869 job postings
- Master of Business Administration (MBA): 838 job postings
- CIPD Level 3: 464 job postings
- Chartered Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD): 343 job postings
- Functional skills qualification: 311 job postings
Source: Job postings and specialised skills data for HR managers and directors (Lightcast, 2022)
