Survey shows London vets are the big winners, but gender pay gap remains 

London vets were the biggest winners in last year’s pay stakes after enjoying median pay rises of 47%, according to the latest SPVS salary survey.    

The survey, which received more than 1,800 responses, showed salaries for vets working in the capital rose to £68,950, while median pay for vets based elsewhere rose at a below inflation rate of 9% from £48,325 to £52,693.

Covering everything from basic earnings, bonuses, dividends and overtime, to benefits such as accommodation, car allowances and pensions, 79% of respondents to this year’s survey were female.

Gender gap

However, responses showed that, despite a similar percentage of men and women undertaking further training, a much higher percentage of men convert these skills into a position of leadership or management, and that men are still paid 22% more than women.

Authors of the survey stated that this figure is due to the number of vets responding who have been qualified for more than 15 years – a group among which the gender pay gap is most stark.

They added: “It is worth noting that 22% of women in this category gave their job title as junior/associate veterinary surgeon compared to only 6% of men.

“This apparent gender disparity is, therefore, likely due to career progression rather than true gender pay gap.”

More than 94% of respondents were in veterinary practices and 60% of these in mainly small animal businesses, but practices across the sector have reported a fall in the amount of overtime being worked by staff.

Results for 2022 showed a large change in overtime working, with only 51% of vets and nurses working overtime as opposed to 78% in 2021.

Other highlights

Other highlights included the following:

• The new graduate salary package has increased by 3% to £33,600 and the new graduate basic salary has increased by a similar percentage to £32,000.
• Qualified vet nurses saw median salary packages increase by 13% from £27,000 to £30,500. For student nurses, this figure was 4%.
• Locum vets’ daily median rates increased by 21% to £425 and hourly rates increased by 22% to £50. Night working locum rates increased by 50% to £750 per night.
• Locum nurses’ median daily rates increased by 38% to £199 and hourly rates increased by 18% to £23.50.

SPVS members have access to the full survey online. For more information about SPVS and other member benefits, visit its website.