Arras People survey focuses key issues for Project Managers

Heywood, Lancashire, UK, 07 March, 2007: Arras People, the project management recruitment specialists, have published their second survey on the UK project management market, with a detailed study on working conditions, rewards and contractor/employee sentiment.

Several key themes emerge from the survey:
Project management professionals are a wide and diverse group with pay and rewards that reflect this diversity. Over 90% of the professionals who participated in the survey earn more than the national average (as defined by ASHE), many by a significant multiple.
Project management is a fluid and changing market where people are highly mobile and able to react to the changing demands of employers. There is mobility between the Contract and Permanent employment status as professionals seek out better prospects, new challenges or the ability to change their lifestyle. Pay and benefits was the lowest scoring reason for people changing jobs!

More and more Project professionals are gaining professional accreditation as employers demand this prior to engagement even though most Project Management professionals base their seniority on experience rather than qualifications. There would appear to be some confusion as to what or who is driving this requirement.

However, respondents feel there are too many accreditation bodies within the profession, and this in many respondents’ eyes tends to undermine the value of accreditation.

A significant number (58%) of Project Management professionals are members of recognised Professional Bodies (APM, PMI etc…). They generally see market advantage of such affiliation though satisfaction levels drop when asked about their value for money and impact on enhancing the profession.

Contractors are generally in the older age brackets than employees, and ageism is still seen as an issue by many people, despite new legislation introduced in 2006.

2006 was a challenging year for many professionals in the remuneration stakes, where only 38% saw an increase in their earnings. A further 15% saw a decrease in earnings and the outlook for 2007 is mixed.

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John Thorpe, a director of Arras people commented “There are more and more people calling themselves project management professionals, as private and public sector organisations increasingly rely on their skills and attributes to provide a flexible and focused resource. This study provides a very detailed picture of the project personnel’s professional life and the key differences between contractors and employees, and between the differences in major sectors.”

Notes to editors
1. Full Report: To download the full report of the Arras People 2007 Project management survey, go to www.arraspeople.co.uk/projectmanagementsurvey2007.html

2. Survey details: Arras People used independent research company Benchpoint’s (http://www.benchpoint.com)unique real time polling technology to question 1,225 permanent and contract Programme and Project Professionals during January 2007.

The survey provided a detailed picture of project professionals’ careers, qualifications, earnings and prospects, building upon the data gathered in previous surveys.

3. About Arras People: Arras People is the Project Management Recruitment Division of Arras Services Ltd. Arras People provides programme and project management professionals and professional project office support personnel across all industry sectors, for either permanent, contract or interim positions.

Arras Services began trading in February 2002, and now provides its services to many of UK’s leading blue chip organisations, including some of the Top 20 project management consultancies in the UK, as well as public sector (central and local government), IT, engineering, marketing and media organizations, not for profit and charities.

Further information:
John Thorpe
Director,
Arras People
Arras House
47 York Street
Heywood
Lancs.
OL10 4NN
Tel: +44(0)1706 366444
email: survey@arraspeople.co.uk