Salary analysis 2021 (archived)

First of all, were more vacancies posted last year? It certainly felt very busy. Yes - job postings were up more than 100% on 2020 and up 50% on 2019. Here's the graph:

Did all of this recruitment activity result in pay increases as is being reported? Not so much. Across all of the jobs advertised on the environmentjob.co.uk website in 2021 the average salary was £30,478, up from £29,583 in 2019. That's an increase of 3.03% This is comparable to the increase in previous years.

We're predicting larger salary growth this year (2022), We've been wrong before though - so let's wait and see!

Salary by sector

Was this increase spread evenly across all sectors? Not really, Carbon, Climate & Energy saw a 14% rise, with Environmental Education seeing an 8% fall.

Salary by region

What salary changes are happening across regions? The overall difference in average salary between regions is surprisingly small - just 11% difference between the highest paid region (London) and the lowest paid region (the South West). This was helped by the lowest paid regions seeing the largest increases in 2021.

Salary by organisation type

After falling back last year, jobs in local authorities saw the largest increase last year at over 9%. This is possibly a consequence of the change we've seen in the type of jobs advertised by local authorities - many more comparatively well paid sustainability, carbon & climate roles around net zero are coming through.

Best paid jobs in 2021

Finally, it's always interesting to see the best paid jobs in any sector and so we have listed 2021's highest payers.

This list comes with a huge caveat, lots of job ads don't state a salary - instead they will be advertised as having a "Competitive salary" or similar - the more senior the role, the more likely this is. With this in mind, here are 2021's top five highest paying vacancies where the salary was stated.

Service Director – Climate Change and Environmental Strategy , Kirklees Council, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Up to £103,353 pa

CEO, Soil Association Certification, Bristol, £100,000 + benefits

Director of Environmental Impact & Thought Leadership , CDP, London, c.£90,000 DOE

Finance Director, Maydencroft, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, £80,000 - £100,000 pa

Chief Scientist – Decarbonisation & Resource Management, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, c.£84,000 - £87,000 pa