Londoners most likely to sacrifice salary in job search

• Londoners care less about a new job’s salary than anyone else in the country 
• Londoners more likely to look for sophisticated blend of attributes in a future employer – attributes  they know will lend their CV a blue-chip tint  
 
Londoners care less about a new job’s salary than anyone else in the country according to data from specialist recruiter, Randstad. 
 
As part of research for this year’s Randstad Award Employer Branding Research, Randstad interviewed 9,215 British workers, including 1,843 Londoners, to find out what their top priorities are when it comes to looking for a job.  Londoners are the least likely to say “the job needs to offer competitive salary and benefits” (61.0%).  Nationally, 65.2% of people named salary as one of the most important factors – with Midlanders, Scots and workers in Yorkshire all being more likely to care about their remuneration that the UK as a whole.  67.1% of Midlanders picked salary as one of their top five criteria when choosing a new job, while 66.2% of Scots and 66% of workers in Yorkshire said the same. 
 
Londoners are also least likely to look for “long-term job security” (48.8%), “a pleasant working atmosphere” (50.4%), and a job being “conveniently located” (34.1%).   
 
Mark Bull, CEO of Randstad said: “Londoners have a pretty bad reputation for looking after number one and going after the cold hard cash.  But despite the materialistic stereotype of the city slicker, Londoners are less likely than anyone else in the UK to name competitive salary and benefits as one of the top five most attractive attributes of a future employer. That’s not to say the capital’s workers will work for free – three out of every five still cite salary as a future employer’s biggest selling point – but this is considerably less mercenary than everyone else in the UK.” 
 
Londoners are more interested in whether a job offers career progression opportunities (38.5%), if the organisation has strong values (12.6%), promotes diversity (12.8%), offers quality products and services (12.3%) and uses the latest innovative practices (9.4%) than elsewhere in the UK. 
 
Mark Bull said, “Londoners are looking for a sophisticated blend of attributes in a future employer – attributes that they know will give their CV a blue-chip tint and ensure their long-term career progression.  Their eyes are on the big prize and they care significantly less about short-term benefits of a job.  So while they’re more concerned about diversity, the environment and values than anyone else it may not be because they are particularly worthy.  I suspect it’s really a reflection of savvy ambition.  They’re right, too.  If you want to succeed at the highest level in any sector – from IT or banking to engineering or the public sector – you can’t afford to ruin your CV working for failing organisations with bad reputations. 
 
Across the UK, the top three most attractive sectors that people want to work in are seen as Automotive and Pharma / Life Sciences – except in London where the two most attractive sectors are Automotive and Professional Services. 
 
Mark Bull said, “It’s no accident that the Professional Services sector is so popular in the capital.  The Big 4 and the Magic Circle firms have particularly strong management teams, strong values, and offer fantastic services using innovative practices as well as brilliant international career opportunities.  They take diversity very seriously and offer excellent career progression.  They offer everything that ambitious career-savvy Londoners hold dear.” 
 
While Londoners are focusing on their future career aspirations the rest of the country isn’t taking quite as long-term view of the next job.  While Midlanders care more about salary (67.1%) than the average Brit (65.2%), they are more concerned about how convenient it is for them to get to work (41.3%) than anyone else in the UK.  They are also less concerned about whether an employer uses innovative practices (5.6%), or offers international opportunities (6.2%) than anyone else in the country.  And Midlanders are less preoccupied about career progression (34.8%), an employer’s values (9.9%) and whether or not they promote diversity (7.7%) than the average British worker. 
 
Employees from Yorkshire & The Humber are more concerned about whether a job offers a good work-life balance (48.1%), long-term job security (59.3%) and flexible working (31.1%) than anyone else in the UK.  They are also more likely to pick competitive salary and employee benefits as one of their top five attributes in a job (66.0%) than the average worker (65.2%) – and are less concerned about the strength of an employer’s management (13.2%), the quality of its products (9.8%) and whether it uses innovative practices (6.0%) than most Brits.   
 
Workers in The North care the least about whether a job offered good career progression (34.1%), offered interesting job content (43.3%), or if an employer is concerned with the environment or society (7.9%).  They also care more about where a job is located (39.4%) than the average Brit and whether or not it offers flexible working (30.3% vs. 29.6%). 
 
While employees in Scotland care more about salary (66.2%) than the average British worker (65.2%), they cared less about a future employers’ management (12.9%) and the quality of its products and services (9.2%) than anyone else in the country (UK average 15.0% and 10.6% respectively).

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