European Trade Association Compensation & Benefits 2023/24 Report

If you lead or work in a European association secretariat, we wrote this report especially for you. This is our sixth compensation and benefits report in the last twelve years and never has the subject been so pertinent as now, given the cost of living “crisis”, general inflation and wage indexation in Belgium. Click on the link below to download the full report for free.

This 60-page report analyses compensation & benefits packages of trade association staff at all levels of seniority, and across a spectrum of roles. We also look at job functions and titles, as well as non-financial rewards and how to keep your best people.

European associations have always fulfilled a critical role in shaping the policies and regulations affecting the sectors they represent – as well as defending and enhancing their reputations. Never have businesses and associations needed to engage with European governments and the EU more than now. This report is intended as a useful guide to association leaders, to help them reward and motivate their secretariats toward peak performance.

This report is dedicated to the many thousands of people who work in the 2,400 international associations in Brussels, but it is focused on the business or trade association sector for the period 2023/24. It is those businesses that are going to create the profits and employment that will restore the European economy to growth and help reduce the massive public sector deficits deepened by covid, inflation and now the war in Ukraine.

One key variable in remuneration, particularly at the senior level, is whether secretariat staff are employed as independent contractors or salaried employees. In this updated 3rd edition, we are delighted to include two new insightful articles from our friends, Sylvie Dumortier (Tax Counsel) and Sophie Maes (Partner) of specialist HR law firm Claeys & Engels, on Tax developments in Belgium and Legal Considerations for Independent Contractors.

Thank you very much to the more than 600 people who participated in this research. We wish you the best of health and happiness for the year ahead.