Check my salary

Should you be expecting a raise? Have you got a job offer? Want to know if you’re underpaid?

What part of the country
do you work?

Much like in previous years, over 50% of respondents work in the southern part of the United Kingdom. London again takes the lead here, with 27.1% of those surveyed working in England’s capital. This is a slight drop from 2019 and 2018. In Scotland and Wales we see a slight increase in the number of those surveyed. Conversely there is percentage point decline in Ireland the North East and the North West.

What is your current salary?

Last year we highlighted a worrying drop in the average salary, with more of you making up the £25,001 to £30,000 salary range than the £30,001 to £35,000 range.  

This year there is an alarming further squeeze on salaries. The number of respondents in the £25,001 to £35,001 bucket dropped – but in the wrong direction. For 2020, we see a significant jump in the number of those surveyed falling into the £20,001 to £25,001 bracket – from 10.8% in 2019 to 14.5% in 2020.  We should consider the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic here, which may be squeezing on pay increases as well as promotions. But it could also be a reflection of an increasing percentage of 18-24 year olds entering the industry (see below).

What is your age?

Which of the following best describes your current job level?

With the increasing amount of 18-24 year olds in the business, you could expect 2020 to show us a large percentage of those surveyed identifying as “interns” or “juniors” when surveyed. Well, that is not the case here. The number of interns fell by over half a percentage point, and those identifying as “juniors” remained flat. This indicated that the level of education for CAD technicians is of good quality, enabling many of you to quickly progress in the early stages of your working life.  

How appreciated do you feel in your current role?

As usual, the results to this question are a mixed bag. Perhaps worryingly, those identifying as “not at all” appreciated, or “a little” increased – these two sections together increased by 2.8%. That means that overall, 81.9% of you feel appreciated or more in your current roles, compared to 84.6% last year. It is hard to say here whether less contact with your line managers is contributing to this due to working from home and Covid 19 at this point, but it is clear that 2021 has room for improvement.

How rewarding is your current role?

How much stress is there on deadlines?

How likely do you feel progression through management is?

What are the key motivators for making you want to change roles?

We have a new entrant to this list for 2020 – and not surprisingly so. It seems that some of you have had a taste for the work from home lifestyle, and want more! It is clear that the Covid 19 pandemic has only compounded a trend we have been tracking for a couple of years – the desire for better work life balance.  What is interesting however is that those claiming higher salary as a motivator – always the top response – fell from 81% to 76.3% in 2020. This is a key indicator that you continue to seek fulfilment from your careers and personal lives in other ways, whether it be flexitime, better training or more responsibility.

What software do you use in your current job?

Solidworks is making steady progress in number of users – up 4.9% on 2019 levels. This seems to be largely at the expense of previous newcomer Revit, whilst the usage of other software has only changed minimally.

Have you been offered training for the CAD software you use?

Would you job be made easier using other CAD software?

Has Brexit negatively affected your employment options?

A drop on this during 2020 from 2019 – by 3.1%. We could speculate here that the difficulties in organising, coordinating and holding training sessions this year has been a factor. In addition, budget constraints will also play a role.

There is little change in the response here from last year – still about 50% of the industry does not feel that expanding their CAD software range would help their work. This could in part explain why newcomers to the industry like Revit are struggling – even backsliding – on share.

Alarmingly a massive 12% increase in those surveyed claim that Brexit is negatively affecting their employment options. Whether this is due to not feeling comfortable looking for better jobs abroad in the EU or a general unease around what Brexit will do to the construction industry is unclear. Perhaps the skilled and highly important non-UK born EU workforce feels they need to return to their home countries, especially if the strength of the pound is in question.

How secure do you feel in your current role?

We have added this section to track how the industry is feeling in the face of the Covid 19 pandemic. It is clear there is a great deal of uncertainty – 19.8% of you responded “not at all secure” in their current roles.

Has Covid 19 negatively affected your employment options?

A massive 70.8% claim Covid 19 is damaging their prospects. Recruitment freezes, projects on hold and delays in finishing education have all made 2020 a year the industry would like to forget. Onwards to 2021 to see what it brings for the CAD industry