PR Exec Salaries Sharply Declined in 2009

Spring Associates, Inc., apublic relations executive search and consulting firm, found overall, average corporate communications base salaries decreased 11.3% compared with 2008’s increase of 2.7%, and PR agency base salaries decreased 10.6% compared to an increase of 2.9% in 2008. According to The Official PR Salary & Bonus Report – 2010 Edition, when all titles and specialty categories are combined on a national basis, corporate communications professionals averaged bonus decreases of 17% and PR agency personnel averaged bonus decreases of 17.5% in 2009.      

The eight key metro cities (those with the greatest number of PR professionals) – New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, Washington DC, and San Francisco – as a group, posted an average salary decrease of 9.6% in 2009 compared to an increase of 2.5 % in 2008 for PR firms, and an average decrease of 11.4% versus 2008’s increase of 2.2% for corporate communications departments.      

The five major regions of the country – northeast, southeast, midwest, southwest and west, (excluding the 8 key metro cities), reveals that corporate communications average salaries were down 9.9% compared to an increase in 2008 of 2.1%, while PR agency average salaries decreased by 11.2% versus the prior year’s 2.4% increase.      

By title, the salary changes in 2009 were:

• Corporate Specialists: regionally -10%; in 8 key metro cities -12.9%;
• Corporate Directors: regionally -11.8%; in 8 key metro cities -11.2%;
• Agency Account Execs: regionally -13%; in 8 key metro cities -14.8%; and
• Agency Exec VPs: regionally -7.5%; in 8 key metro cities -7.8%.

Spring Associates said its communication with PR pros in both corporations and agencies last year revealed a much greater loss of jobs in 2009 than in 2008. Those companies and firms that are hiring, tend to fall into the health care, pharmaceutical, consumer, and high tech/social media specialties.