Despite the tough economy and significant job cuts across the tech sector over the past year, the majority of UK cybersecurity professionals continued to pocket healthy pay rises, particularly those who switched to a new role.

On top of the salary increases security pros received, non-salary benefits also grew modestly, and a number of workers continued to enjoy the additional financial benefits of working remotely.

These are among the finding of Cybershark Recruitment’s latest Cybersecurity Salary Survey, an annual benchmark of industry remuneration, conducted in partnership with SC Media UK.

[DOWNLOAD: Cybershark Recruitment’s Cyber Security Salary Survey 2024]

For the 2024 survey, Cybershark Recruitment compiled the results of a 29-part questionnaire completed by 2,100 cybersecurity professionals from across the UK late last year.

The survey found that, when measured over a full range of experience levels, salaries in 17 out of 20 categories of cybersecurity work increased last year.

In four of the categories – critical national infrastructure, digital forensics, identity and access management (IAM), and business continuity management – average salaries reported by all respondents were up by 8% or more.

Topping the increases were roles in IAM, which were up 11% overall. IAM employees with more than 21 years of experience reported earning £120,000 to £145,000 while at the other end of the scale, IAM newcomer with 1-3 years of experience were earning £42,000 to £55,000.

 While staff in the governance, risk and compliance category reported a more modest overall increase of 2.5%, GRC experts with more than 21 years’ experience had some of the highest salaries, ranging from £160,000 to £235,000.

Changing jobs continues to be lucrative

Professionals moving to new jobs received significantly higher salary increases than those who stayed in the same role, although increases greater than 20% for those taking up new positions were less common than they were in Cybershark’s 2023 survey.

More than half of those who changed jobs (57%) reported receiving a salary increase of up to 20% (compared to 47% last year). However, the number receiving a hike of over 20% dropped from 37% to 30%. Twelve percent said they changed roles for the same salary, down from 14% last year.

The increase in new hires receiving pay rises of up to 20% indicated the cybersecurity job market was still incredibly strong, Cybershark Recruitment managing director Daniel Murray said.

[DOWNLOAD: Cybershark Recruitment’s Cyber Security Salary Survey 2024]

The drop in the number of candidates changing jobs without a salary increase indicated that fewer people were now willing to shift locations for better work-life balance, Murray said.

An exception to that, however, was that as more companies moved back to requiring staff in the office four or five days a week, some candidates were prepared to forego a pay rise if it meant they could spend more time working from home.

Of those who didn’t change jobs in the past year, 75% reported receiving a salary increase, although the rises overall were less than for those who switched companies, with the majority of increases being in the 1-10% bracket (42% of workers received this level of increase, up from 37% last year).

Gaining a pay rise of more than 25% was not out of the question for those who stayed at the same company: 4% reported receiving such an increase, although this was down from 6% last year.

Bonuses and other benefits increase

In contrast to the previous survey –  when benefits fell – Cybershark found there was a modest increase in the amount of bonuses and other benefits companies paid out over the past year.

Sixty percent of respondents said they received a performance bonus, up from 57%, while the number receiving bonuses in general (either performance-related or guaranteed) was up from 73% to 75%.

The most common bonus was in the 6-10% range (up from 25% the previous year to 27%) while nearly 4% said their bonus payment topped 50%.

There was also a modest rise (1-2%) in the number of employees receiving other forms of benefits: flexible working conditions, contributory pension payments, life cover and private healthcare.

Simon Hendery Senior Correspondent

Simon Hendery is a freelance IT consultant specializing in security, compliance, and enterprise workflows. With a background in technology journalism and marketing, he is a passionate storyteller who loves researching and sharing the latest industry developments.