Pay in the West Midlands is rising faster than the national average – but there’s a £9,000 gap between the top earning areas and the less well paid.
People in Sandwell are earning on average £9,000 a year less than those in Solihull but still end up working two weeks a year longer, reveals the ManpowerGroup Pay League, a new series of local insights into UK pay trends.
ManpowerGroup’s analysis is based on the annual survey of hours and earnings from the Office of National Statistics.
The best-paid towns in the West Midlands region are Warwick, Solihull and Rugby, where average annual pay is over £30,000. Meanwhile, at the other end of the table people in places like Sandwell, Walsall and Redditch can expect to earn an average of £21,000 a year.
Those in the region’s biggest cities, Birmingham and Coventry, earn on average around £24,000 a year, compared to the national average of £27,200.
Despite earning less, workers in places like Sandwell are working just as hard, if not harder than their counterparts in more affluent areas. Across the West Midlands average annual pay – up 4.2 per cent – has risen three times faster than across the UK as a whole, where pay has increased 1.6 per cent.
James Hick, UK managing director of ManpowerGroup Solutions, said: “There are reasons for workers in the West Midlands to have a spring in their step. We’ve known for a while that the employment prospects for people in this part of the UK have been above average but pay has been a lagging indicator.
“Pay levels are starting to rise across the region and that should help drive the economic recovery in Birmingham and the surrounding areas as confidence continues to return.
“From our experience in the West Midlands, we have certainly noticed in recent weeks that while some companies are still being cautious regarding pay, candidates are coming back stronger in demanding and negotiating higher salaries.”
The survey revealed a gender gap in the region, with average hourly pay for men rising by 3.1 per cent, and for women by 1.9 per cent. Average pay in manufacturing increased by 4.4 per cent.
