Salary Rewards and Attitudes Survey Report 2024

The global real estate industry in 2024 dances on a tightrope of cautious optimism and lingering concern.

While pandemic extremes stabilise, normalisation brings its own uncertainties amidst the backdrop of inflation, tightening affordability and dampening demand. Despite this, resilience prevails with anticipation of stable in the latter half of the year, potentially sparking recovery.

In essence, 2024 is a year of navigating unknowns, demanding agility, strategic foresight and an adaptable, forward-thinking workforce.

For 24 years, our ‘Salary, Rewards and Attitudes’ survey report remains the most comprehensive benchmark for remuneration and sentiments in real estate, empowering hiring professionals and employers to make strategic decisions that enhance their workforce and talent management strategies. This year’s report references over 15,000 international salaries, remaining the reporting benchmark across the international real estate industry.

We are grateful for our participants taking their time to complete the survey, providing information on how much their remuneration packages have evolved and how working in Real Estate measures up today. The report offers a robust overview on how the industry has adapted work patterns, salaries, bonuses and overall employment packages providing clarification on market trends for professionals and organisations.

The overriding theme this year is one of a settling working landscape since the disruption of the pandemic, encouraged by leaders determined for a structured workplace in an uncertain climate.

Salaries and Benefits

Overall global salaries have increased slightly with the median salary amounted to $76,390 (USD) up 2.1% on last year’s average. Just over 6 in 10 professionals received a base salary raise, averaging an increase of 9.7%. As we usually see in previous years, an annual pay review is the main reason for a salary raise and this is more commonly the case the more senior an employee.

Moving to a new employer remains the most lucrative method of obtaining a salary increase with an average uplift of 24.9%. A promotion gained an average uplift of 17.6%, while an annual pay review led to a 7.3% increase.

This year also sees 1 in 5 (20.5%, up from 16% last year) citing they received a pay increase from their employer as a cost of living / inflation adjustment. The average was an uplift of 6.4% pay increase, just over of the global inflation rate of 5.8% (source: IMF). As outlined, inflation and cost of living concerns are a cause for concern amongst employees, so an uplift of this amount is reflects the pro-active leaders and organisations that are taking on easing these pressures for staff.

Where salaries and flexible working changes were limited for organisations, the attention this year turned to wider employer benefit packages, with an increasing interest in what enhancements professionals desired to their current entitlement. Just 4 in 10 were satisfied with their package outside of salary/bonus, with a notable gap between Graduate/Entry level employees (30% satisfied) and Director level (46%+).

Though varied by region, when asked what type of benefit would be well-received with a mixture of categories, 55% of respondents on a global scale valued great employment pension contributions as desirable. This was followed by a full private annual healthcare check (40%), a holiday/vacation cost contribution or allowance (39%), paid commuting expenses (31%), a home office allowance (28%) and childcare costs paid/subsidised (23%). A local office hub (5%) and vet bills paid (3%) were not attractive options.

Work and Sentiments

Though down on last year’s more optimistic outlook, 46% on respondents believe their workplace will increase headcount this year (from 52% last year), though 58% think their company will face a skills shortage.

In one of the most profound findings in this year’s survey, over half (51%) say they are likely to move roles in the next 12 months, though this was marginally less so for respondents in the UK and US (both at 43%). This has increased from 42% of respondents likely to move employer last year.

This increase may stem from a reducing number of those feeling valued in their current role, with 62% citing they do feel valued, though this stat is down 9% on last year and on par with the figure we saw in 2021-22.

Of those that cited they felt undervalued, 30% say it is due to salaries and benefits, followed by 27% who say it’s due to the company’s culture and values with those at mid-management level most likely to state this reason.

When looking for a new role, outside of salary, respondents state workplace culture-fit and a company’s reputation a values were the most important factors – both where 51% chose this as a top 5 factor. Bonus/commission levels was the next popular for 45%.

We can draw some conclusion that the way an organisation is managed is playing an increasingly important factor at work with workplace relationships between colleagues and leaders under the spotlight.

Contentions with working patterns and a creeping demand for more work in office days by leaders have reared its head in 2024, after the seismic shift in how employees were able to work outside of a traditional in office 5-days a week set up.

Having work-life balance above salary as the most valued aspect of a job prevails, though outside of the UK, the trend of having work flexibility is diminishing year on year. There is a slight increase in respondents reporting they must be in the office for a certain amount of days a week, though there is a small increase (32% vs. 30% last year) of those that have complete in autonomy in when and where they can work. Nearly 4 in 10 say they must be working in the office 3-4 days a week, while 1 in 10 (9%) must work in the office 5 days a week.

The consensus on whether flexible working impacts careers is yet to materialise across the board, however, there is an immediate impact on junior employees who feel their expected career acceleration is being hampered from reduced opportunities collaborating with colleagues in person consistently.

To close, real estate continues to prove its resilience, and if our global survey of thousands in real estate is anything to go by, we can look forward to increasing certainty at work and in our industry.

About the Survey and Report

The Macdonald & Company Salary, Rewards and Attitudes survey report has been conducted annually for over 20 years. The 2024 report will be its 24th edition.

The survey has expanded to cover our global footprint and reaches respondents across the sectors and real estate cycle stages, including investment & funds, development, services and more.

The survey annually generates between 3000-8000 responses and is combined with 10,000+ salary data points from our database of placements made, job instructions and candidate data in the last 12 months. Combining this information creates a robust understanding of salary, work and attitude trends that are unique for the real estate industry.

Alongside the foundational questions that are asked yearly – such as salary and bonus details, benefit packages and their monetary value – we include questions based on trending topics to gather insights into market. Where the last few years have focused on the rapidly changing attitudes and work patterns since the pandemic, this year’s theme has shifted to discover what other incentives, outside of salary and flexible work, employees value and covet when considering new opportunities. Other emerging and consistent themes have discussed diversity with an historic track record on the gender pay gap, and more recently, the ethnicity pay gap.

For more information about the survey, email salarysurvey@macdonaldandcompany.com