BIM SALARY INTELLIGENCE : JULY 2020
Thanks to JOHNSONBIM for their data and contribution.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
It is important to understand the trend in supply and demand. Supply x demand = salary. When demand outstrips supply, salaries rise. When it reverses, salaries plateau.
SUPPLY UPDATE: The big divide. Unfortunately, since April, cost cutting has forced the redundancy of many higher level, central-overhead-funded roles. A lot of BIM Leaders have been caught in the firing line.
However, where salaries are project-funded, the BIM centric have been protected.
DEMAND UPDATE: Obviously, over the last few months, demand has decreased, a lot, and Salaries have remained at pre-March levels. However, July, with a noticeable increase in new projects, has seen a small uptick in demand – again where salaries are project-funded.
SALARY UPDATE: Data supplied by JOHNSONBIM
As a quick summary, whether funded from central overhead or a project, salaries have remained at pre-Covid levels. Many have been temporarily reduced to match furlough levels although we will see most return to 100% by November when government support ends, if not sooner.
Salary stagnation will continue in some roles but we predict they will soon be increasing elsewhere. Below we predict what the next few months might look like.
A NOTE ABOUT REGIONAL VARIATIONS
Because the salary guides are an average, they can be skewed by the higher rates in London. To get a more accurate picture we separate London salaries from the rest of the UK.
This is still crude method as some regions pay better than others. Our guides give a good average of all the (outside London) regions but local variances should be expected.
PREDICTING THE NEXT 6 MONTHS:
Despite concerns that supply would increase dramatically and demand would not recover until later this year it appears this is primarily affecting more senior, firmwide roles (central overhead) with little impact elsewhere. The project funded have kept their jobs and are returning to work. With new projects landing already, there are early signs of demand increasing. So, planning ahead, what will happen to salaries?
It depends on the future pipeline. If there are gaps, companies will de-risk by outsourcing or will not recruit at all. If there are no gaps for at least a year (post vaccine), they will have to recruit to keep up with increasing BIM requirements.
Who knows how the next 6 months will unfold? IF we don’t have to return to full lockdown and project numbers continue to expand as UK.GOV is hoping (see the Bounce Forward Bulletin) and IF procurers demand Level 2 BIM compliance, we will inevitably see the demand for BIM talent rise again.
However, we don’t expect salaries to increase this year:
- Costs are being managed tightly so pay rises are unlikely;
- When hiring experienced new staff for live projects, supply is still very low. Normally this would result in an increase in salaries for new staff (and therefore existing staff);
- All but the most optimistic companies will not risk the bottom line while the business climate remains unpredictable;
- Therefore, hiring will be focussed on the less experienced to keep costs down.
WHO WILL BE IN DEMAND?
BIM TRAINEES, TECHNICIANS, COORDINATORS and MANAGERS – at the right salary level!
If all goes well demand will focus on low-cost, project-funded, BIM trainees, BIM Technicians (from trainee to competent level), BIM Coordinators (advanced beginners and competent level) and BIM Managers (advanced beginners and competent level). Click here for competency level definitions.
The career centric will be looking to progress to the next level so it is important to understand what that is to target the bright fit. To find out what ‘next level’ means, please visit our career management room for career mapping intelligence.
…AND BIM EXPERTS – on demand
In previous ‘recoveries’, companies have reduced risk by outsourcing essential but ‘non-core’ tasks to external experts. With firmwide digitalisation and BIM integration being essential but expensive, this cost-saving-expertise-maintaining solution is vital.
Wanting to avoid the higher costs of larger BIM consultancies creates an exciting opportunity for individuals who can deliver on a part-time basis, for a fraction of the cost.
To help BIM experts set up and promote themselves, we recently launched the BIM Experts Directory so recruiters can easily find the right BIM Experts, on-demand.
If you’d like to find out more about the benefits of working freelance, how to set up as a freelancer and more, visit the BIM Experts Directory.
SUMMARY
We don’t anticipate salaries shifting much in the next 3 months. There won’t be enough demand to absorb all the supply. However, by September we expect the supply to start drying up for some talent with salaries rising from Q2 next year and probably overheating beyond.
The picture is complicated but it’s useful to help understand if you are planning ahead. JohnsonBIM have created a useful tool to help visualise. By overlaying over 30 years’ monitoring supply and demand cycles with an optimistic post pandemic recovery path, they have created a useful heatmap of where and when salaries are likely to rise or fall. Note the red cells! Click on the image below to view the full size version.
A BETTER WAY TO FIND BIM JOBS AND BIM TALENT
This month, dbe.careers launched a specialist digital construction jobs board where clients looking for BIM talent can advertise (free of charge for 3 months). The goal is to get all digital construction opportunities (global) in one place.
With the focussed digital construction community that uses dbe.careers for career intelligence now accessible to clients, they can now target the right audience and use the intelligent filters to get a higher quality, more relevant response. If you want to take advantage of our free advertising offer, click here for more information.
It’s early days and not many companies are recruiting but, as the site grows, digital construction specialists will be able to search for relevant opportunities and see a wide range of options around the world.
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