The findings come from Reed Specialist Recruitment's annual salary survey.
It reveals the average salary for an HR director was £84,505 - ranging from a low of £74,000 in Wales to a high of £111,000 in London. This figure is up 15.5% compared to last year.
HR managers now earn an average of £44, 411 - up from £43,275 in 2008 - but the largest rises came among those who work in learning and development and compensation and benefits. Compensation and benefits managers saw their pay go up from an average of £42,674 last year to £52,229 this year - more than a 20% rise.
Commenting on the findings Reed Human Resources divisional manager Jason Willis said: "With the downturn forcing many organizations to re-evaluate their strategies, there has been an increase in demand for certain skill-sets including learning & development, compensation & benefits, organisational development and redundancy management."
In December HR magazine reported HR salaries were on the rise, but yesterday research from the Keep Britain Working campaign found 24% of HR recruitment specialists have taken a pay cut since the start of the recession.
Learning and development managers have seen their salaries rise from an average of £37,127 in 2008 to £43,333 in 2009, according to Reed.
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