3 Aug 2021
Throughout the first quarter of 2021, 1,224 vets at all stages of their careers and working across the UK in a range of practice sizes and types, responded to Onswitch’s salary survey.
Image © Vlad Kochelaevskiy / Adobe Stock
A salary survey conducted by one of the UK’s leading veterinary business consultancies has shown there is no significant gender pay gap between younger vets.
Throughout the first quarter of 2021, 1,224 vets at all stages of their careers and working across the UK in a range of practice sizes and types, responded to Onswitch’s salary survey.
Across small animal and equine practice the survey showed pay parity between male and female vets in the early stages of their careers, although as careers progressed, a gap opened with senior male vets paid £76,000 on average, compared to £57,350 for their female counterparts.
The survey also found remuneration rates for younger vets have risen in recent years with authors speculating that practices are now offering higher wages to attract younger vets, while corporate grad schemes have also played a role in raising salaries for vets starting out in their careers.
The survey also showed the “grad scheme effect” has resulted in a situation where some vets who are seven or eight years post-qualification, are now being paid less than their newly graduated colleagues.
Results also showed that the propensity to recommend the workplace was low across the board for all vets, regardless of area of specialism or level of responsibility with small animal vets returning a net promoter score of -6, out of a possible score of +100.
Alison Lambert, founder and managing director of Onswitch, said: “For too long now, it’s been almost impossible for vets to understand what their market value is. Job adverts talk about ‘competitive salary’ or ‘benefits commensurate with experience’, but it’s hard to know what this actually translates to in the monthly pay packet.
“Too many vets have no idea whether they are being paid a ‘fair’ rate, or how their salary and benefits package compares with colleagues in the same building. Only when veterinary professionals can see published salary scales and understand how pay fits into the overall business model, will vets know that they are paid fairly for their skills and contribution.”
