UK ranks higher than US in SAM salary watch

Global survey reveals large disparity among pay levels for SAM and licensing experts in different countries

More than half of UK software licensing and asset management (SAM) experts are satisfied with their level of pay, according to a survey carried out by recruitment firm Merlin Corp.

The company conducted a global survey of the members of its LinkedIn Group - Licensing and SAM - with 31 per cent of responses coming from the UK.

Countries where people were most satisfied with their salaries were Denmark and Belgium, where all respondents expressed satisfaction, but the countries least satisfied were Germany, Portugal, Ukraine, India, Russia and finally Brazil – where a whopping 97 per cent of respondents felt they were paid too little.

A total of 55 per cent of respondents in the UK and Australia said they were satisfied with their salary.

Across the pond, 83 per cent of Canadian software licensing experts felt they were paid at the right level, with 60 per cent of US respondents being satisfied.

Hitting the top spot for salaries was Australia – with an average basic salary of $A100,023 (£65,358) and the lowest were in India, where the average basic salary was £12,897.

The most experienced SAM experts came from Canada, where they averaged 6.8 years of SAM experience, while the least experienced came from Russia and Brazil, each averaging two years of SAM experience.

In Belgium a licensing consultant will be paid £88,323 on average, compared with £45,000 in the UK, £44,161 in France and £22,529 in the US.

SAM managers, on the other hand, command £81,827 in Australia, £70,000 in the UK, £55,643 in Sweden, £45,000 in the US and £15,898 in Ukraine.