Car and smart working are the benefits most appreciated by managers

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Il manager on bicycle and tram is a figure that stands out in a future as distant as it is indeterminate, both in large cities and in the provinces, the kingdom of small and medium-sized businesses. The ecological turning point and environmental sustainability do not seem to have undermined the myth of the car, if it is true that it is still the most appreciated benefit today. At the same time, however, with a decidedly ecological benefit: flexible and remote working. We are talking regarding a rather limited universe of workers, the middle and top managers, although it has expanded in recent decades, more thanks to job titles than to executive contracts.

In its Salary guide from 2024 Hays it surveyed 1,348, as well as 828 companies. What emerges is that the compensation package is increasingly complex, «although it takes as reference standardized models that companies build trying to understand how the labor market moves – Hays managing director Carlos Manuel Soave tells us -. The dynamism is very strong, in 2023 two out of ten workers have changed companies and in some areas related especially to IT, engineering and life sciences there is a clear misalignment between supply and demand. In such a market, attracting and retaining talent means having very structured human resources management policies, which consider people as the fulcrum of the organisation’s development”.

But how much is the benefits package worth? «It can even reach 15-20% of the RAL (gross annual salary, ed.)», calculates Soave. So it is indeed a complement, but of a certain weight. And so the proposal to hire a middle manager (for a top manager it is definitely obvious) can no longer lack the computer, the telephone, the meal voucher, but also the health insurance or private medical coverage. And above all flexible working. Almost three out of four professionals find them, according to Hays’ research. The most appreciated, as over half of the managers say, are two: 56% indicate the company car, while 51% indicate smart working.

Having reached this point, however, a clarification is in order when using the word manager. Who are the managers today? Carlos Manuel Soave explains to us that the «job title is important to say what you do, but it is not as representative as it once was. Each company gives a definition that is its own, in a market that is no longer so clearly segmented. In other words, we are all managers and it is not the job title that defines who has the contract as a manager or manager. Compared to the past when becoming a manager was very complex and it was necessary to be a top figure within the organization, today the path is more accessible, simple and fast, even for a middle manager. However, the fact remains that leadership is not given to everyone easily. What is decisive, more than the job title, is the length of service, the responsibility, the number of people, the budget and turnover managed, as well as the results. This last chapter is one in which companies show greater sensitivity. We see that the share of those who try to link a part of the variable package to the achievement of objectives is growing, which at that point can really make a difference in the compensation”.

Wages growth

According to research by Hays, which is an English multinational, present in Italy for many years, specialized in the search and selection of middle and top managers, the remuneration lever proves crucial in influencing the choice of workers. Considering that ours is the country of small and medium-sized enterprises, in 2023, the average RAL for middle and top manager figures was 54 thousand euros, up 2% compared to 2022. It ranges from 34 thousand euros for junior and specialist with 2 or 3 years of experience, to 49 thousand euros for senior specialists and coordinators (figures with 5 years of experience and managing small teams), to 68 thousand euros for managers with at least 5 years of experience, who manage more complex tasks and teams , to 75 thousand euros for directors with 8-10 years in the role, up to 94,500 euros for C-level.