The study, released this week, the csr salary survey, reveals that eight out of ten British CSR practitioners feel satisfied in their current role – and that 97 per cent would recommend corporate responsibility as a career.
Levels of job satisfaction applied more or less equally, whether respondents were working in-house for a company or as a consultant.
Paul Burke, senior partner at Acona consultancy, which carried out the survey with the recruitment consultancy Acre Resources and Ethical Performance newsletter, said the results showed ‘remarkable’ levels of satisfaction.
‘We suspect this may in part be due to the fact that those working in the sector have a deep personal interest in and commitment to CSR and the opportunity to make a difference,’ he said.
Andy Cartland, Managing Director at Acre Resources, added that the data confirmed ‘both personal observation and anecdotal evidence that those working in the sector are overwhelmingly happy with their lot’.
The survey also found that 15 per cent of respondents actually felt more secure in their jobs, despite the recession, than they did last year, while 55 per cent felt just as secure. Around 30 per cent, however, described themselves as ‘less secure’.
Peter Mason, managing editor of Ethical Performance, said the figures showed CSR professionals believe responsible business behaviour is now more important than ever.
‘Although there appears to be a consensus that CSR has become more, not less, relevant in a global downturn, it’s still surprising to find such a degree of confidence in job security,’ he said.
‘It could be that CSR practitioners are guilty of looking at their profession through rose tinted spectacles. But more likely the figures reflect their feeling that the corporate responsibility brief is now part and parcel of corporate life.’
This year’s survey – the second – showed that more women appear to work in corporate social responsibility than men – 62 per cent of respondents were female and 38 per cent male.
Despite this, women occupied only 49 per cent of director level jobs and accounted for only 33 per cent of those earning £100,000 a year or more.
Likewise they were over-represented among jobs that commanded salaries of £40,000 or under – accounting for 78 per cent of those in that bracket.
The median salary figure in this year’s survey was £45–50,000 for company personnel, and £35–40,000 for consultants.
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