MAGAZINE: Property profs put career before pay

Chartered surveyors between the ages of 25 and 30 working in the UK fund management, property asset management or property finance sectors are likely to be the best rewarded across Europe, according to the 2011 European RICS and Macdonald & Company Property Remuneration Survey published at MIPIM.

At the same time, this group is amongst the most pessimistic about the next 12 months, the survey found. Now in its fourth year, participation in the European Property Remuneration Survey was up by 21% this year at close to 1,500 professionals - the largest response rate yet. Overall, the survey reports a small rise in new jobs across Europe and a reduction in the number of jobs lost (from 13% to 9%) - welcome signs that the European property market is recovering from the lows of 2009/10. The good news for employers is that employees seem happier to stay put if their job is interesting than seek higher salaries elsewhere.

While confidence is up, the average salary increase was slightly down, from 11.2% last year to 11% this year. Some 32% of survey respondents received a base salary increase in the last 12 months and only 8% reported a decrease. According to Liliane van Cauwenbergh, managing director of RICS Europe, 'this is clearly good news, given the 14% pay reduction of last year'.

Most European real estate professionals feel positive about the future of the profession and are more optimistic about economic recovery across Europe with the majority anticipating that activity will improve over the next 12 months. However, opinions differ across the region with 54% of European property professionals believing that economic activity will increase compared with 44% in the Middle East and only 28% in the UK.

The full article appears in the March edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the link below to subscribe