What we learned about earnings in Belgium from the 2021 Income & Insight report, pt. 2

Beyond salary, daily rate and benefits, these professionals shared their motivations in choosing a new employer, likelihood of attrition, opinions on workplace factors, and other insight into modern and future workforce demands. The following data represents key findings from the report compiled from their responses on economic earnings. View a summary of the finding on compensation and motivation in the previous post, or consult the full report for details, demographics and further results.

Income Report 2021 findings

In this edition of our national biannual research, we studied average national earnings for digital marketing professionals (income), as well as included questions designed to reveal further intricacies of the workplace and hiring landscape in Belgium (insight). The income, or economic topics featured include in-house employee earnings, freelancer daily rates and benefits that have evolved over the past year. The timing of this survey is particularly interesting as it measures changes which occurred over the most extreme periods of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Takeaway 1: Highest earning freelance specialty

The average daily rate for freelancers in digital marketing in Belgium is 612€. The highest paid job categories are: Digital project managers, Digital marketing managers and E-communication/CRM/Automation experts. Freelance digital project managers earn the highest daily rate of 746€, up 19% from 627€ in 2019. This is no surprise, given the rising demand for project managers in Belgium we observed in early 2020. By industries, freelancers make an higher daily fee in Telecom, Pharma and Retail & FMCG.

(Want to learn more? Get the Ariad Income & Insight 2021 Report for digital professions across industries in Belgium to find out what professionals are actually earning today)

Takeaway 2: Freelance contract length trends

The average initial contract duration for freelancers is 9 months. This is a significant increase compared to 2019, when average contract duration was reported at 7.5 months, and in 2017 at 7 months.

This increase could be due to the substantial digital projects many companies are launching, particularly since COVID-19 changed consumer demands, such as new e-commerce platforms or digital communication and marketing systems. It also reflects the successful mixed model many digital marketing teams are choosing, regularly incorporating highly skilled freelancers into their teams for longer periods of time.

Takeaway 3: Highest earning employee specialty

The average monthly salary for permanent or internal employees in digital marketing in Belgium is 4.192€. The highest paid job categories are: E-commerce experts, Digital managers and Web/Data analysts. E-commerce experts are the standout earners, with gross monthly earnings of 4.608€. This trend could be easily maintained as the importance of online sales continues to grow. By industries, internal employees earn the highest salaries in Automotive, Finance, insurance & Legal and Telecom.

Takeaway 4: Permanent employee benefits are broadening

The most common benefit for an internal employee is a laptop or computer (89%). 87% also receive meal vouchers; this is up from 83% in 2019 and 80% in 2017. In all past studies, at least 4% of workers reported earning no extra-legal benefits. 2021 is the first year in which 100% of permanent employees report earning at least one benefit. Permanent employees are approximately twice as likely to receive any category of benefit compared to freelance workers.

Want the whole story?

Get the complete Ariad Income & Insight 2021 Report for digital professions across industries in Belgium to find out what professionals are actually earning today, as well as sentiments and trends on work culture, motivation, retention, and more.