CIMA Eurozone part qualified salary survey 2009

CIMA Salary Survey 2009 - Eurozone

Foreword 1

Executive summary 2

Main findings 4

Salaries and bonuses 4

Gender 5

Sector 5

Job roles 6

CIMA level 7

Recruitment and retention 8

Satisfaction with salary 8

Satisfaction with benefits 9

Importance with benefits 10

Promotion prospects 11

Working hours 12

Career motivators 13

Skill sets 14

Geographical mobility 15

Extent of movement 15

Destination 16

Economic future 17

One word to describe success 18

Country specific salary information 19

Technical information 20

Further Information 20

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ForewordWelcome to the Eurozone results from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants’ (CIMA’s) inaugural global salary survey. The results contained within this report have been created to provide you with a snapshot of the trends faced by the business leaders of tomorrow – CIMA’s European student base working within the Eurozone.

The world has faced a tough 12 months and has seen Finance Directors thrust centre stage as organisations around the world

look to weather the storms ahead. The role of the professional management accountant has never been more critical to the economy’s success, so it is encouraging to note that 2008 saw CIMA recruit its highest ever number of students.

As the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants, CIMA is this year celebrating its 90th anniversary. The Institute has lived through various recessions and upheavals, including the great depression of the 1930s. Experience tells us that bad times also bring opportunities and vital lessons that will benefit us in the future. This report, which focuses on CIMA students working in the Eurozone, identifies a number of important trends. The average salary listed is €48,871 with passed finalists earning nearly a third more than managerial level students, when including bonuses. Overall, 70% of respondents felt their promotion prospects were average, good or excellent.

CIMA students appear to be masters of their own destiny. Although 79% of students working in the Eurozone are confident that they will be able to keep their current job over the coming year if they so choose, 56% plan to find a new role with nearly a third of these planning on an international move.

While these statistics give an interesting snap shot of our Eurozone students’ thinking, we must bear in mind the greater need for parity between male and female student earnings, which was also thrown up in the report.

As CFOs around the world look to build long-term strategies alongside managing the challenges of day-to-day operations in the current economic climate, CIMA students are very much in demand. Their ability to work at the heart of an organisation to help drive its success coupled with the international scope of the qualification makes them the number one choice for business. On every level.

Please read on for a more detailed insight into what makes our students working in the Eurozone tick. I hope you find it an interesting read.

Charles TilleyChief ExecutiveCIMA

Executive summaryThe Eurozone economy shrank by 1.5% in the last quarter of 2008 and 1.2% on the year, according to the latest official data from Eurostat. The slowdown was most dramatic in Germany, which registered its biggest fall since reunification in 1990. The French economy contracted by 1.2%, while Italy’s shrank by 1.8%, the sharpest decline since 1980. But it is Ireland that is experiencing a deeper recession than any other Eurozone country.

Organisations are having to ensure a delicate but crucial balance between short-term survival and securing their long-term future. While there is enormous pressure to cut costs, investing in the training and development of the financial business leaders of the future has never been more important. With this in mind CIMA sought to gauge its students’ views of the current climate and understand their salary levels and aspirations.

This report looks at the salaries and bonuses paid to CIMA students throughout the Eurozone economies (based on responses largely from Ireland plus Spain, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, France, Finland, Luxembourg) and how these vary according to factors such as sector and CIMA level. It then goes on to examine recruitment and retention issues and identifies the geographical mobility of CIMA Part Qualified students. Finally, it touches upon views in the prospects of the economy.

In February 2009 CIMA launched its first ever global salary survey for students. A total of 2,093 people contributed to the survey of which 239 were in the Eurozone, establishing a reliable benchmark on current and future salary potential for CIMA students. This report summarises the results of this survey, with a particular focus on the Eurozone.

Salary and bonuses

The average basic salary is €48,871, plus a bonus of €2,505, producing a total average package of €51,376 per annum.

Passed Finalists earn 30.5% (or €14,371) more than managerial level students when including bonuses.

Bonuses are also significantly higher for Passed Finalists - €3,617 compared with €2,230 at managerial level, or 62% higher.

While the average bonus is €2,505, 43% are not expecting to receive a bonus at all in 2009.

On average, males are paid €5,052 per annum more than female colleagues, but when bonuses are taken into account the disparity between genders rises to €5,868 per annum.

Recruitment and retention

Overall 66% of respondents claim to be satisfied with their salary.

Of those earning greater than €55,000, 87% are extremely or very satisfied with their salary.

The most popular benefits, both in terms of availability and importance, are pensions, study leave and contribution/payment of CIMA fees.

Overall 70% of respondents felt their promotion prospects were average, good or excellent.

The key work motivator for employees is having a challenging workload (16%) and the scope of role/projects (16%), followed closely by job security (13%).

Leadership (48%) and personal development (46%) are the main skills students would like to focus on in the next 12 months.

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Geographical mobility

79% of CIMA students in the Eurozone are confident that they would be able to keep their current job over the coming year should they choose.However, only 44% of CIMA students plan to stay with their current employer over the next two years. 69% of those who plan to move intend to move to another employer in their country and as many as 31% plan to find work overseas.Those looking to work overseas often favour other English speaking countries, in particular the UK, America and Australia.

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Main findingsSalaries and bonuses

The average basic salary is €48,871, plus an on target earnings bonus of €2,505, producing a total average package of €51,376.The average is pushed up by a small proportion of individuals earning a basic salary of €75,000 per annum (6%).While the average bonus among all Eurozone respondents is €2,505, it is €4,120 among the 57% who are expecting a bonus in 2009.

Year’s experience

Perhaps not surprisingly those with less work experience are significantly more likely to be lower tier earners (i.e. those in the bottom third salary band in their own country) across the Eurozone.

Gender

As in other areas of industry, females are not remunerated as highly as their male colleagues. In terms of average basic salary the difference is €5,052 per annum, which represents a difference of 11%. However, when bonuses are taken into account the disparity rises to €5,868 per annum or 12%.One likely explanation for differences of salary and benefits between gender is that males have more work experience. Some 38% of males have more than five years experience, compared to only 21% of females.

Sector

CIMA is important to the broad base of international industry with the banking, finance and accountancy sector having the highest proportion of CIMA students (28%), followed by manufacturing and engineering (18%), retail and consumer goods (11%) and technology, telecoms and utilities (10%)Although the base numbers are small to draw any reliable conclusions (239), the chart below offers an indication of the trends by sector.

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On average, males are earning €5,868 more than females.

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Job roles

CIMA students most commonly report their job title as finance or business analyst (17%), management accountant (13%), accounts assistant (12%), or accountant (10%), demonstrating the strategic and diverse nature of many students’ roles. Again, as base numbers are low it is only possible to give an indication of average salaries by key job titles:

Finance or business analyst €48,580 basic, plus bonus of €2,100 totalling €50,600. Management accountant €46,700k basic, plus bonus of €1,300 totalling

€48,000.

In terms of fitting into the business, organisational structure is relatively traditional for respondents, as 82% of respondents sit in the finance division. A further 7% reside in the operations division and 3% in strategy. The importance of the information technology function however is much higher for Eurozone respondents than four other markets included in the survey, with 5% based there.A significantly higher proportion of higher tier earners are based within the strategy function than low tier earners (6% vs 1%). Overall remuneration packages appear very similar for the finance and operations division, at around €50,000.

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CIMA level

In line with observations on studying status and years experience, the more senior the level of CIMA attainment, the higher the salary. On average, passed finalists* earn 30.5% (or €14,371) more than managerial level students.

Average bonuses are also significantly higher for Passed Finalists - €3,617 compared with €2,230 among managerial level, or 62% higher.

In terms of responses to the survey, 23% are from Passed Finalists, 39% managerial, 26% strategic, and 13% TOPCIMA.

Passed Finalist= a student who has completed all 3 levels of the CIMA qualification but who has not yet submitted their three year relevant work experience and as such not progressed to CIMA membership.

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Passed Finalists earn around 31% more and achieve bonuses of around 62% more than managerial level students on average.

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Recruitment and retention

Satisfaction with salary

While salary levels do not guarantee job satisfaction, there is clearly a link between higher salary levels and satisfaction with remuneration. Of those earning greater than €55,000, 87% are satisfied or extremely satisfied with their salary. While two thirds of mid tier earners are highly satisfied with their salary levels, only half of low tier earners are satisfied. Overall, two thirds of respondents claim to be satisfied.Although women are not as well remunerated as men, they are no less satisfied with their salary.

Managerial level respondents are marginally more satisfied than average respondents. However, satisfaction with salary dips at the strategic and TOPCIMA levels, before increasing again at the passed finalist level. This pattern of cyclical satisfaction may be explained by changing expectations of salary levels overtime. Managerial level students are initially satisfied with their salaries, but their expectations are not satisfied again until they reach passed finalist level.

Satisfaction with benefits

In general, respondents are considerably more satisfied with the level of benefits they receive compared to salary levels. Overall 72% were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their benefits, compared to 66% for their salary.Low and medium tier earners show similar levels of satisfaction for both salaries and benefits. But high tier earners are considerably more satisfied. Low tier earners may be more disappointed because they attach more importance to bonuses relative to other benefits, such as mortgage relief, car allowance and share options.

Women are far more satisfied with the benefits they receive, relative to men, despite receiving lower bonuses. But they attach much more importance to a wider number of benefits including flexible hours, extra holidays and study leave. This probably accounts for their higher satisfaction with benefits

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Benefits importance

The most popular benefits, both in terms of availability and importance, are pensions, study leave and contribution/payment of CIMA fees. Bonuses, healthcare and flexible hours are less widely available, but have similar levels of importance for CIMA students in the Eurozone. While two thirds of students receive some kind of support for study (e.g. study leave or contributions/payment towards CIMA fees), only around 10% receive bonuses or pay rises as an incentive for passing exams. These benefits are perceived to be almost as important as the more commonly received benefits, and considerably more important than traditional benefits such as company car allowance, leisure facilities or mortgage relief.Shares/share options are more widely available than extra holidays and the option to work from home, but generally students would prefer these benefits to share options.There are no significant differences by gender for receipt of benefits, which is unusual compared to other countries included in this survey.High tier earners are more likely to receive the more traditional benefits compared to other salary groups, e.g. company cars, bonuses, mobile phone, working from home and pension.

Employers could improve satisfaction levels by offering pay rises or bonuses as an incentive for passing exams, as well as flexible hours.

Promotion prospects

Overall 42% of respondents felt their promotion prospects were good or excellent. Students at the managerial level are the most optimistic about their promotion prospects. This is perhaps not surprising given that they are at the beginning of their career path. By contrast, passed finalists, having gained the exams required for their Chartered status, and already more experienced than graduates, are relatively less optimistic about future promotions. This is in contrast to the global perspective, where optimism typically increases with exam progression.

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Working hours

The typical working week for the majority of respondents is 35 - 50 hours. Some 45% of respondents work 41 - 50 hours a week, and marginally fewer (40%) 35 – 40 hours. Students’ moderately short week, compared to more senior colleagues in the industry may be due to the fact that they have to fit in study time around the standard working week.

However, among students who are already working longer than average hours (e.g. at least 41 – 50 hours), 40% are under pressure to further increase their hours. By contrast, students who work standard hours of no more than 35 hours do not appear to feel pressurised to increase their working hours.

The strongest drivers for increasing working hours are promotions/taking on more responsibility (71%), followed by understaffing/lack of resources (53%).

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Career motivators

While financial rewards clearly have an influence on career motivation, on a day to day basis it is the scope of role and projects in which CIMA students are involved and the desire for challenging work which has the greater influence on job satisfaction. Both the need for a good working environment and job security feature just as prominently as financial reward. Job security is of far more importance to the Eurozone than other countries included in the study.Women place more emphasis on flexibility/work life balance than men (15% of women compared with 7% among men).However, motivators change at different career stages. Passed finalists are most motivated by financial reward (mentioned by 22%), perhaps not surprisingly, employees at an earlier stage of their career are relatively more motivated by training and development (mentioned by 14% of managerial level employees, compared with just 7% of TOPCIMA and passed finalists).

At the earlier stages in their career path students are more motivated by the types of work they undertake, how challenging it is and how much training is provided rather than the harder measures of financial rewards and benefits.

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Skill sets

CIMA students are well aware that progression in their future career depends on their acquisition of wider skills sets, beyond technical accountancy. Leadership and personal development are by far considered to be skills that would be most useful to acquire in the next 12 months, cited by 48% and 46% respectively.As well as the technical skills of reporting and analysis required by accountants (mentioned by 39% of respondents) decision making and communications skills are also considered important, and are required by 40% and 41% of respondents respectively.There are some clear differences in requirements by gender. Women are more interested in personal development, where 55% of female students want this compared with just 38% among male colleagues. Women are also more inclined to problem solving – 36% of women compared with 20% of men.Risk management is of greater importance to men (34% of men versus 24% of women), while leadership improvement is a key focus for high tier earners.Passed finalists are considerably more interested in acquiring leadership skills - 60% highlighted this skill compared to 45% among the managerial level.

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Geographical mobilityExtent of movement

Over half of students (56%) intend to change jobs in the next two years, including approximately one third who have a preference to move within the next 12 months. The majority of people moving (69%) would prefer to stay within their current country. But with around one third of respondents looking to move abroad for a new position, it is clear CIMA students value geographical mobility - 17% of all Eurozone respondents intend to move abroad.

Of those who intend to move out of their country, only one quarter are confident they will look for a position within the same industry sector as their current position. For those intending to switch and have an idea of which sector they would like to switch to, banking, finance and accountancy is the single most preferred sector.

Improvements in the quality of life are most regularly sought abroad (52%), as is the opportunity to experience different cultures (47%). This compares with 44% who cite improved salary as a motivation for moving abroad.4% of Eurozone respondents moved to their current country within the last 12 months.

Those considering relocating abroad are as much concerned with lifestyle issues as purely financial or career goals.

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Destination

Of the students looking to change positions, 31% want to move overseas. Where overseas destinations are being considered, the vast majority (82%) have a preference for moving to English speaking countries, and predominantly the so called Anglo Sphere countries (e.g. former colonies and Commonwealth countries). The UK is the most preferred destination (56%) followed by USA (31%) and Australia (24%).

The majority intend their relocation to be temporary (71%), typically 1-3 years (40%). However, almost one third (29%) anticipate their move to be permanent.

Mobility of CIMA qualification

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In the key destinations for planned migration CIMA will be able to offer local support.

Canada

USA

Economic future Anticipated impact

Approximately four fifths of CIMA students are absolutely or fairly confident that they will keep their job in the next 12 months (79%), with confidence at a similar level across the CIMA grades.

A minority of students (10%) are optimistic that the credit crunch will last less than a year. High tier earners are the most optimistic in this respect -16% compared with 8% among low tier earners. Otherwise opinion is almost equally divided between those who think the credit crunch will last 13 – 18 months (30%), 19 – 24 months (27%), and over two years (31%).

Overall, students anticipate a number of actions their organisations will take during the current economic downturn. Over two thirds anticipate budget cuts (71%), recruitment freezes (70%) and salary freezes (70%). Apart from a fall in profitability, anticipated by 61%, over half (57%) expect job cuts. Passed finalists are considerably more pessimistic about the prospect of salary freezes than managerial grade students – 82% versus 66%.

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One word to describe success...The size of the font reflects the number of times the word was spontaneously mentioned.

InnovationHappiness

CIM

A q

ualif

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ion

Growth

Security

Commitment

Bala

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Smart

Wisdom Peace

Perserverance

DeterminationInfluence

Country specific salary informationThis section provides a breakdown of country specific salary information by key indicators (where the sample base is large enough to provide reliable information). All salary information was collected in February and is presented in local currrency.

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including Ireland

Technical informationData collection for the CIMA Global Student Salary Survey 2009 was carried out by CIMA itself online during the period 28 January to 22 February 2009. The data was subsequently weighted (by Redshift Research) by CIMA student level to ensure the profile of the survey sample accurately represents all CIMA students working in industry.

CIMA students globally were selected and invited to participate (UK, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong and Australia) – a total of 2,093 completed the study globally, with 239 respondents from within the Eurozone.

Eurozone responses were heavily dominated by Irish respondents with 81% of replies coming from Republic of Ireland. This accurately reflects the CIMA student base which has 82% from Ireland within the Euro zone. (Members 80% Strategic 83% Top CIMA 85% and Passed finalists 83%) Basic responses were as follows:

In order to encourage participation salary data was collected in bands, the lowest point being taken was €22,500 for the sake of calculations.

Both the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Redshift Research are Market Research Society Company Partners. The organisations abide by the Market Research Society’s Code of Conduct and the Data Protection Act.

Further Information

For further information on technical matters relating to this survey, contact yourvoice@cimaglobal.com