Senior creative salaries have fallen in 2023 after a talent shortage in the post-pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 caused widespread salary inflation across the industry.
According to data released by creative, marketing and digital recruitment agency Aquent, advertised salaries for senior and midweight creative roles in graphic design, video editing and motion graphics have seen their average upper limit fall by 2%.
In 2022, the reported average salary for a senior graphic designer was advertised at £50,000 to £70,000. This fell considerably to £45,000 to £65,000 in 2023.
Potential earnings for a senior video editor also fell from £50,000 to £80,000 to £50,000 to £65,000 over the same period, with this trend also reflected in motion graphics designer salaries, which slipped from £55,000 to £70,000 to £45,000 to £60,000.
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“The UK saw a hike in inflation, resulting in increased cost of living, and pay rates have struggled to keep up. Many hiring decisions were put on hold so it’s unsurprising that we’ve seen less growth in salaries compared to previous years,” Aquent UK managing director, Aliza Sweiry said.
Aquent found that salaries for positions across the design, creative, marketing, content and social media sectors were particularly affected by this downward trend.
The skills shortage that resulted from the widespread redundancies made during the peak of the pandemic in 2020- to 2021 have been singled out as the primary driver for creative salary inflation – with market rates now readjusting to a post-Covid economy.
