Have you ever wondered how your employer comes up with the salary for your job? You can be certain the first step they take – or should take – is to consult with the most recent expert salary surveys.

The task of analysing jobs and establishing their relative worth is an industry in itself and is highly complex. Compensation and benefits experts collect data from a broad range of industry sectors and companies of different sizes and then benchmark the information to determine current levels of pay.

Compensation analysis is based on fact and an important element of it is identifying trends so that companies can be kept up to date with the market. According to experts, the primary factors influencing levels of remuneration are:

A

critical

factor in analysing pay is comparing

like with like

. It’s worth remembering that a small indigenous company is unlikely to be able to match the pay scales of a long-established multi-national. If you are considering a job move and salary is an important consideration, the best approach is to weigh up all the factors that matter to you in a job and compare how each company measures up. Research in Ireland shows that regional location makes little difference to executive pay packages, although within a region there may be differences in pay across sectors. Non-executive pay will show some regional differences.

To find out what you can expect to earn in Ireland, check the following: