Top industries for employer pension contributions revealed

Preparing for life after work has become one of the most important considerations for workers as they bid to secure their financial future.

Auto-enrolment is now a league requirement for many, but the difference between employers’ contributions can play a substantial role in determining a person’s comfort in their retirement.

On average people need around £247,000 to be able to live in comfort at the end of their career.

The latest industry research has looked at which industries are contributing the most towards employee’s pension pots.

Financial and Insurance workers received the highest contributions as a percentage of their salary with an average of 9.5 per cent. This industry was considered the best for support, with employees earning on average £30,403 and over 54,000 job opportunities on the market in the UK.

This was followed closely by the education sector. Teachers are considered to be amongst those with the best pension options. On average they receive contributions of 9.3 per cent from their employers. The average salary for a teacher is £22,416 which means that they can receive over £2,000 in employer contributions each year.

Suppliers of electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning were also among the highest for employer contributions. However, they were significantly lower than the previously mentioned industries with an average of 7.1 per cent. Employees can receive an annual contribution of around £1,700 based on average salaries in the industry of £23,943.

At the other end of the scale those in agriculture, forestry and fishing jobs received the minimum legal contributions, with the accommodation, food services and arts industries also offering minimal contributions meaning employees have to save significantly more to be able to live a comfortable retirement.

The research also looked at the differences between contributions based on gender. There was a slightly higher contribution rate for men (4.6 per cent) than women (4.4 per cent). However, these ranges varied significantly within the individual industries.

In the education sector, women received an average contribution of 9.3 per cent compared to 7.9 per cent for men, whilst in technical areas such as electricity and gas men saw an average of 7.4 per cent compared to 4.2 for women

There are now calls for firms to adopt policies of equal pay and pension contributions for equal roles.