Female marketers continuing to miss out in the salary game

FEMALE marketers are continuing to miss out in the salary race compared with the male counterparts, a new survey has concluded.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s latest Marketing Rewards salary survey said there were striking difference between the genders when it came to salaries.

The survey revealed that on average compared with last year, the pay gap between male and female marketers at director level has grown by 10%.

CIM said the findings were consistent with those of previous years and could be fuelled by recent austerity measures and low job security in the public sector, where 38% of public sector marketers reporting a pay freeze while over three quarters (81%) of private sector marketers enjoyed a pay rise averaging 3%.  This is in contrast to the overall average pay increase for marketing professionals in the survey being 2.4% – less than the 3% forecast in last year’s survey.

Marketers in the manufacturing sector, already paid more than their counterparts in both the private or voluntary sector, topped the league with 88% reporting a rise, which CIM said was perhaps indicative of more than half (60%) reporting they work over 40 hours per week.  

Encouragingly, it said more than 41% of directors received a bonus, in contrast to 37% last year, and over a third (40%) of heads of marketing typically received a bonus averaging £9,000, compared with 44% last year.  

Despite the proportion of senior and middle marketing managers who received a bonus in 2013 remaining the same as the previous year, CIM said the value of bonuses had risen, suggesting that the contribution of marketers to the bottom line was increasingly valued by their organisations.

Significant differences between public and private sector marketers were reported in their promotion prospects and job security.  Compared to private sector marketers, a feeling of job insecurity was reported by almost twice as many marketers in the public sector than any other.  CIM it was not surprising that this sector reported the highest proportion of marketing professionals seeking to move job (44%).  

Despite these differences and the turbulent economic difficulties of late, the survey highlighted positive attitudes across the industry.  Over three-quarters (78%) of marketers felt their pay was in line with or above the market, and nine out of 10 reported fair to excellent job satisfaction, with 76% feeling they have at least some promotion prospects, up from 62% last year.  

Thomas Brown, Associate Director, Research and Insights at CIM, said: “We know from our on-going research amongst the UK marketing community that the early signs of a recovery are becoming more established and these latest results support this improving outlook.

“Whilst the public sector continues to suffer the lag effect on a protracted and tough period of economic turbulence, we’re encouraged to see the private sector demonstrating increased levels of confidence and optimism. The can-do attitude and high job satisfaction revealed by these latest results reinforce the appeal and reward of a marketing career, and support our firm belief that marketers are well-placed to lead organisations from economic survival to sustainable growth.“

He said the widening of the gender pay gap at director-level, particularly given the improvements seen last year, remained a concern.

“We know that there are still challenges we have to overcome to ensure that any marketer – regardless of gender – has an equal opportunity to reach the very top of our profession, but we urge organisations to ensure that they are remunerated fairly when they get there,” he added.