Representatives of GB Energy, a planned government-owned energy company, recently reposted a job advert for a HR director with a £27,000 higher salary than the original posting. This took the total figure to £117,800, from an original range of £70,000 to £90,000 back in October 2024.
Research from the jobs board Reed, published on 4 February 2025, shows that HR pay rises are lagging behind the rest of the country at just 4.8% in the last year compared with 6% nationally.
Reed researchers also found that the average HR salary of £48,000 is still higher than the UK’s general average salary of £38,900.
However, when it comes to senior positions, this picture changes. According to data from recruitment platform Glassdoor, last updated this month (February 2025), the average pay for a UK chief HR officer is £112,169 per year. This compares with an average CFO pay of £119,749, and average CEO pay of £167,812.
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So what’s suppressing HR salaries?
Alastair Gill, founder of Alchemy Labs, which offers HR and leadership consultancy to major firms, believes that once HR proves it can deliver commercial growth, it will get the higher rewards.
He told HR magazine: “HR is underpaid – still paid a lot but not the millions of the other leadership positions – because the value of the function isn’t being seen.
“HR can often get bogged down in solving problems the top bosses don’t care about.
“Unless we’re solving the boss' biggest problem, which is often around revenue or growth, it won’t get the highest salaries on the board."
He continued that, if senior HR leaders have ambitions to accrue more take-home pay, they need to go beyond simply about asking for a better salary.
“The answer is about how to have more value and deliver more impact,” he added. “But the CEO often doesn’t trust HR with this stuff, so HR has to shift from the old administrative HR focus to a new strategic and value-adding focus.
However, Kate Palmer, employment services director at the advisory business Peninsula, added that pay can be a very subjective topic due to varying roles: some businesses merely want an administrative HR function, others are happy for HR to be involved in in business strategy.
She told HR magazine: “Whichever route a business decides to take, it’s important they have clear targets and expectations of what they expect HR to deliver for them. This is where the value element will come in.”
If HR is to expect higher pay, Palmer added, it has to meet the business' objectives, whatever they are. “It is important that the HR function within the business is aligned with their overarching goals and objectives, working collaboratively with senior leaders to achieve them,” she added.
Read more: Highest HR salaries in England revealed
Similarly, Chris Williams, director of people and culture at workforce mobility solutions business Mauve Group, added that employers should be aware that HR’s role has evolved from the purely administrative, and benchmark accordingly to get top HR talent.
Speaking to HR magazine, he said: “We recommend that all organisations conduct salary benchmarking before advertising roles, to ensure they offer competitive compensation from the outset.”
But even that might not tip salaries higher. As Amanda Arrowsmith, the CIPD's people and transformation director, advised, as much of HR work can be under-appreciated because it is hidden.
She said: “Activities like conflict resolution, compliance, and employee development happens behind the scenes and isn't always visible to the wider organisation.”
