New data | HR salaries hit plateau despite role's growing importance

Salaries for HR professionals are stagnating despite the role taking on more importance than ever before following the pandemic, new research has found.

Analysis of HR salaries by Cendex, part of XpertHR, shows that salaries for HR professionals have increased by just 0.3% since 2019.

In addition, the latest HR and Reward Trends data, from XpertHR, shows that as HR pay growth has stalled, their involvement in setting organisational strategy has increased since the pandemic. This is true of 50% of organisations sampled.

The median basic salary for HR professionals has risen marginally from £34,973 in 2019 to £35,086 in 2022, well below what we would expect if HR pay was to track average pay inflation. This year alone, organisations are making pay rises in the region of 3.8%, according to XpertHR.