Average full-time HR salaries in the UK have seen a long-term fall between 2002-2014, however the total wage bill for the HR sector is now rising as headcount grows, according to Randstad In-House Services.

Randstad In-House Services analysed ONS (Office of National Statistics) data from 2002-2014 and found that the average annual salary of a full time HR professional fell in that period, in real terms, by -18% to £31,377 in 2014.

“Despite the valuable work they do, HR professionals have seen their average pay fall, in real terms, like a stone since 2002,” Sally Cleary, managing director of Randstad In-House services said. “Gone are the days of highly paid HR all-rounders. Thanks to the wide adoption of the Ulrich model, they have been replaced by less experienced, and less well-paid, HR executives who are masters at performing their own siloed function.  The result is a more effective HR machine staffed with people earning less than their all-rounder predecessors.”

The study showed that adoption of the Ulrich model leads to long-term shift in the sector’s structure with more HR professionals working in specialist roles, but receiving lower wages.

Randstad In-House Services states that the change in salary does not appear to have been linked to the economic environment. In the pre-recession period of 2002-06, the average salary of a full-time HR professional fell 5.9%.  During the recession, and in its aftermath, the sector’s average pay packet fell by 7.2%.  And a further 7.8% fall was recorded post-recession, during the 2011 and 2014 period.

Compared to other sectors, HR has fared poorly. The accounting sector saw a 3.7% dip in its employees’ average pay during the 2011-14 period – 4.1% points less than the pay contraction undergone by HR workers during the same time-frame.  Similarly, the average salary of a retail professional declined by 0.4% between 2007 and 2010 – 6.8% points less than the pay cut the human resource sector endured over the same period. Only the construction trade and the management consulting profession absorbed a higher proportion of pay cuts between 2007 and 2014.

However, despite the real term falls in HR salaries, Randstad’s research found the sector’s combined wage bill was now rising.

The analysis found that the aggregate salary of all full time HR professionals fell by 1% between the pre-recession period of 2002-06 and declined a further 14.8% during the worst of the recession (2007-10).  However, between 2011 and 2014, the years which marked the beginning of the recovery from the recession, the profession’s total pay rose by 9.7%.  By contrast, other sectors with high private sector dominance were continuing to see steep contractions in aggregate pay during the 2011-14 period. For example, the travel agency profession saw its total pay drop by 21.8% between 2011 and 2014, while the aggregate pay of the electrical trade declined by almost a quarter (24.3%).

“The massive increase in the industry’s aggregate pay since 2011 has been driven by an explosion in the volume of HR jobs,” Cleary said.  “A good HR department is vital to any organisation – it’s the oil that keeps the engine running smoothly.  While management may be reluctant to pay HR professionals more, it’s clear that the explosion in the number of roles is going to disturb the balance of supply and demand.”