Order pickers’ salaries took a “massive” upturn last month, according to Blue Arrow, a recruitment firm specialising in the catering, driving, industrial and office sectors. The recruiter’s November sector report found pickers’ average salary rose 48.7% year over year to £23,427.

However, when it came to the transport and logistics sector as a whole, pickers’ salaries proved the exception to the rule as the industry’s average earnings actually fell 5.3% to £27,273. Despite being the hardest hit with a salary drop of 8.8%, class 1 drivers remained the best-paid professionals in the sector at £29,558. Salaries for warehouse operatives — which can encompass order picker duties — fell 7.3% to £17,768, although their earnings reached a high of £26,008 in Scotland.

“The massive uplift in wages for order pickers represents a simple case of demand outstripping supply,” said Blue Arrow Marketing Director Toni Richards. “Competition is fierce across the UK for jobseekers with warehouse skills to keep up with growing consumption through online shopping in the build-up to Christmas.”

In other segments tracked by Blue Arrow:

• Manufacturing and production salaries edged down 0.7% to £35,772. Fitters remained the best-paid despite a significant drop in earnings, down 9.4% to £32,018. However, fitters’ monthly salaries peaked at an impressive £44,550 in the South West. Welders were the only professionals to see an increase in salary, up 2.5% to an average pay packet of £25,940, and actually found themselves the best-paid in the South East and North East.
• Call centre, admin and secretarial average earnings fell 2.6% to £23,825, although this represented something of an upturn following the 6% drop from October 2015 to October 2016. Despite seeing their average salary edge down 1.3% to £27,484, PAs remain the best-paid professionals in the sector. Call centre advisors experienced the biggest increase, up 8.1% to £17,890, although they still remain behind the industry average.
• Hospitality and catering was the only sector to experience a year-over-year rise in average salary, up 1.5%. Sous chefs posted the biggest uplift as their wages grew 5.6% to £26,513, but head chefs remained in front with an average salary of £31,990, a year-over-year increase of 3.7%. Commis chefs were the only professionals to experience a decrease in wages, a marginal decline of 0.7%.