BSA 2024 Internal Audit Salary Guide v3 SPREADS - Flipbook - Page 14
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Salary and bonus trends
The internal audit, assurance and controls market
experienced incredible salary growth across 2021
and early 2022. This rate of growth, while undoubtedly welcomed by professionals, was always going
to be dif昀椀cult to sustain long term.
As such, salary growth began to level off last year,
although it remained 昀椀rmly in line with historic
averages. Candidates’ salary expectations,
meanwhile, continue to be high, driven by bumper
pay rises in recent years and the ongoing cost-ofliving crisis.
While some professionals can still achieve a sizable
salary boost in today’s market, employers are
becoming increasingly reluctant to match current
demands as their budgets tighten. Indeed, 16%
of organisations believe salary expectations are
‘not at all’ aligned with what they can offer.
Despite this, employers recognise the importance
of retaining their best staff, so many businesses
are providing generous counteroffers in an effort
to convince employees to stay.
Employers intend
to increase base
salaries by 5% on
average in 2024
With regards to bonuses, our data shows a relatively
mixed bag of results. More organisations are set
to offer bonuses in 2024 than 2023 (90% versus 82%,
respectively), but the value of bonuses appears
to be dipping.
In 2023, the average bonus amounted to 16% of
a candidate’s salary – a 昀椀gure that dropped from
19% in 2022.
“There is much more variability in salary growth at
the moment than in previous years,” says David
Hornsby, Director at Barclay Simpson.
Not all candidates are motivated purely by
remuneration, of course. As 昀氀exible working
becomes a more pivotal issue, it’s not uncommon
for professionals to accept a sideways move on
salary if a new role offers greater freedom to work
from home.
“Some employers are having to increase salaries
by a decent amount to stay competitive, otherwise
they risk losing staff. However, 昀椀rms that kept pace
with previous pay growth have not needed to raise
salaries by quite as much.”
We predict that 昀氀exible working will be a key
battleground in the war for talent over the coming
years, as employers try to identify the remote and
hybrid working models that work best for both their
business and staff.
