Wish you were here

With Davis Langdon lifting the lid on senior partner Rob Smith’s salary this month many in the industry will be feeling that their own pay packets are looking rather thin. Few QSs and project managers, even at senior levels, can boast Smith’s fat half a million a year.

One way to start making more money would be to go freelance, according to a survey conducted exclusively for QS News by recruitment firm Hays, which found that freelance QSs and project managers earn significantly more than their permanent counterparts. Alternatively, calling in freelance back-up might be a good way to plug your company’s skills gap.

While some firms aren’t keen on using temporary workers, others do so regularly.

And the freelancers themselves say that work is plentiful.

One of the biggest differences in pay is at the partner and director level. While in-house top brass earn around £50,000 to £65,000 a year on average, freelancers doing the same role pocket an extra £10,000 to £22,750.

The same percentage difference in pay packets (20-35%) was found at associate level. Simon Porter, Manager for Hays Property & Surveying, says the reason for the discrepancy is that demand for freelancers is far outstripping the amount of applicants for full time roles.

Clients have learnt that the flexibility of these contracts is an ideal solution to the peaks and troughs of project work

Simon Porter, manager, Hays

And the pay gap is widening: “Over the past two years we have seen a noticeable increase in salaries at middle management and senior level. This has also had a ripple effect on more junior positions.”

Among such roles, surveyors get paid an average of £22,000 to £33,000 a year but if they go freelance they can earn an extra £5,600 to £9,900. Graduates can take home an extra £2,850 to £4,950 by freelancing.

A reasonable difference in pay was also found in mid-level roles. Project managers make an average of £37,000 to £48,000 a year, but freelancing will bring them an additional £6,290 to £12,960.

Porter says the industry’s attitudes towards freelancers have changed: “There was an initial perception that they showed little loyalty and were an expensive luxury. Whereas it has now been proved they are a committed resource. Clients have learnt that the flexibility of these contracts is an ideal solution to the peaks and troughs of project work.”

The number of freelance QSs and PMs on Hays’ books has gone up 10% in the past two years, from 591 in 2003 to 650 in 2005.

Freelancers don’t whinge and moan, they just get on and do it. Permanent staff will whine about what they’ve been asked to do, or their expenses, or whether they’re on
the right project

Matthew Loughlin, director, PCM Management

This is backed up by Paul Brownsword, partner at Gleeds Birmingham. He says: “We’ve got a freelancer in the office now.

It’s a very common means of making up for a resource you can’t get in terms of permanent employees. The advantage is that when you don’t need them anymore you can get rid of them easily.”

Gardiner & Theobald also uses temporary back-up according to one freelancer, Peter Kaptur, who has been working with the firm on and off for several years.

Smaller firms are drafting in freelancers too. Construction management company PCM Management employs around 50 people, of which 20% are contract or agency staff.

Matthew Loughlin, director at the firm, says the 80-20 split is a conscious strategy.

You can get nervous sometimes if you’re into a second week of not working but something always turns up in the end

Peter Kaptur, freelance QS

“We want to use a certain amount of freelancers. Freelancers don’t whinge and moan, they just get on and do it. Permanent staff will whine about what they’ve been asked to do, or their expenses, or whether they’re on the right project. They’re far less flexible in terms of dropping into jobs,” says Loughlin.

Freelancers are also cheaper for the firm to employ, he says, because they don’t come with the overheads that go with permanent staff, such as recruitment costs, benefits, training and paying them when you don’t have work for them.

He tends to use freelancers for specific tasks, such as settling a final account or setting up a job. “Often you need them where you pick up a new project quickly and need to put a team together fast,” he says.

Loughlin is not keen on freelance graduates, he says, because they need too much training. Yet neither does he hire temporary staff at the very senior level. “People at that level have to have the culture of the organisation.”

Loughlin admits using freelancers is not all plain sailing. “They are there to do their job. There are exceptions but they tend not to be as committed to your organisation.”

Other firms are positively against using freelance support. At Cyril Sweett, Ian Pocock, director of cost consultancy, says: “We don’t use them as a rule. We have not found them to be particularly good or committed.” Yet even Pocock hints that he uses freelancers occasionally. Freelancers themselves, such as Kaptur, say there has never been so much work up for grabs and employment agency Hays confirms that the use of temporary QSs and project managers is a growing trend. So freelancing is an approach to the construction industry worth considering, whether you look at hiring temporary workers or turning freelance yourself.