Nonprofit organisation the Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) twelfth ‘Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey’, highlights the power of continuous education and skill-building in the project management field, positing that it can increase professionals’ earning potential.
According to the survey, which was conducted in 2021, respondents holding the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification reported higher median salaries than those without a PMP certification – 16% higher on average across the 40 countries surveyed.
The latest edition of the survey provides insights from more than 30 000 respondents, 79% holding the PMP certification.
Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, an increase in total compensation (including salary, bonus, and other cash incentives) was reported by half of survey participants over the 12 months prior to completing the survey.
About 22% reported total compensation increases of at least 5% over that period.
The biennial survey offers insight into the monetary value of project management skills, experience and certifications, giving project management practitioners a greater awareness of their earning potential in a dynamic job market.
This data is also posited to help employers, compensation committees, human resource departments and executive recruiters better determine competitive and equitable salary ranges for project management roles within their organisations.
When converted to dollars using normal exchange rates, median salary varies considerably among project practitioners from country to country.
In South Africa, project practitioners report a median salary of $67 698.
Salary tends to increase with higher positions in virtually all countries, but the rate of increase varies significantly by country.
The salary survey also reveals that practitioners with certification earn 28% more than professionals without certification.