Stem wage growth outstrips other industries

Research from specialist STEM recruitment firm Populus Select has revealed that wage growth in science-related jobs is outstripping many other sectors.

Since 2015, the median pay for roles in the sciences and tech sector has grown by 27.6 percent - almost four percentage points above the UK average increase of 23.7 percent – as an increased reliance of technology and the drive to meet reduced pollution targets drives forward growth in the sector.

The figures were analysed using information from HMRC and the Office for National Statistics

• % Increase in Wages between 2015 and 2022:

Sim Hall, managing director at Populus, said: “There is a real labour shortage in science and technology fields now, which is causing wage inflation above that of other sectors as a result of the natural process of supply and demand.

“Clearly science and technology-based industries are becoming more and more important due to the pressure to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, reduce CO2 emissions and to find a more sustainable way to live. With a lack of skills and people actively switching sectors, we only expect wages to continue to increase above the normal for years to come.

“It will always be the case that skills gaps exist in quickly growing and advancing industries, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an opportunity for others to apply their pre-existing knowledge and experience into STEM fields in order to take advantage of the superior renumeration packages.

“We have always invested into future technologies, providing jobs for generations to come. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of committing long term investment, ensuring jobs are safe for the future.”

Populus Select, which matches professionals and executives to organisations in the sustainable technology, engineering and manufacturing sectors worldwide, has benefitted from the growth of the science-based job sector. Last year it achieved record sales, growing 50 percent as restrictions on the movement of people reduced the flow of foreign nationals into the UK jobs market and firms looked to expand overseas.”