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Article | Beyond Data

Compensation in the energy and natural resources industry

2024 pay trends to watch

January 31, 2024

Explore insights into what energy and natural resources organizations around the world are planning this year.
Compensation Strategy & Design
Beyond Data

Attraction and retention remain challenging for organizations worldwide

Organizations grapple with sourcing talent for major roles at every level

Average voluntary attrition rate among key markets worldwide
Source: WTW 2023 Salary Budget Planning Report – Global (December)
Location Average voluntary attrition rate
Malaysia 8%
Mexico 8%
United Arab Emirates 4%
United Kingdom 9%
United States 9%

Major roles employers plan to hire for in the next 12 months
Percentage of organizations recruiting for key roles in information technology (IT), engineering and technical skills trade in key markets
Source: WTW 2023 Salary Budget Planning Report – Global (July)
Location IT                       Engineering Technical skills trade
Malaysia 39% 71% 71%
Mexico 38% 64% 62%
United Arab Emirates   39% 74% 74%
United Kingdom 51% 67% 62%
United States 63% 75% 73%

Salary budget increases continued in 2023

Because salary impacts an organization's ability to attract and retain talent, this pattern is expected to continue in 2024, but employers will be cautious about allocating their salary budget.


Organizations also granted higher bonus payouts for 2023, and are expected to repeat it in 2024


Employers (60% or more) in every industry worldwide have taken or are considering taking the following measures:
  • Compensation review of specific employee populations
  • Full compensation review for all employees
  • Targeted increases for specific employee populations
  • Hire people higher in relevant salary range
Top 3 functions at professional level (P3) with the highest pay across all industries*
Top 3 functions at professional level (P3) ranked according to pay across all industries
*Source: WTW Compensation Survey Reports (August-September 2023)
Rank Mexico Malaysia United Kingdom United States
1 IT development Geosciences Energy trading Energy trading
2 Technical sales support Engineering Environmental health and safety Energy marketing
3 Legal Well operations Project/Program management Data science and business intelligence





A few skills will receive the highest pay premiums across regions
Skills that will demand the highest pay premiums across regions
Source: 2023 Digital Transformation Practices report
Region Skills Pay premium (median in percent of base salary)
Asia Pacific AI/machine learning frameworks 15%
Europe, Middle East and Africa AI/machine learning frameworks 20%
Latin America Cryptography, distributed ledger development, smart contract programing 15%
North America Cryptography, distributed ledger development, smart contract programing 15%

Twenty-two percent increase in the number of unique organizations participating in WTW’s 2023 Energy and Natural Resources Survey, and a 25% overall increase in data submissions.

Trends expected to shape 2024 rewards decisions

  1. 01

    Energy transition is the top theme among energy and natural resources players as they aim to meet their climate targets; young workers are preferring to work with employers with high sustainability commitments. Energy transition continued apace in 2022 and 2023 despite inflationary pressures, ongoing disruptions to global supply chains and an energy crisis.

  2. 02

    Economic volatility and uncertainty could lead to lower investment levels and economic growth, which will force organizations to review their workforces and be more cautious about increasing salaries (among many other things).

  3. 03

    To effectively compete against industry peers, compensation and HR professionals will seek a more sophisticated understanding and application of data in their strategic total rewards practices and policies.

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