Win and keep talent
Match or beat the market for the roles you compete hardest to fill, and give counter-offers a defensible ceiling.
Numbers, not guesswork
Market rate reports that put a real figure on every role
Stop guessing what to pay. PurpleTree delivers market rate reports with accurate, current compensation data for your sector so every hiring offer, pay review, and budget decision is grounded in evidence.
Keep pace as the going rate shifts.
Why Guesswork on Pay Costs You
Pay is moving in the Irish market, and the employers who have not checked their numbers in the last year are usually the ones losing people on salary without understanding why. A market rate report replaces guesswork with current evidence for your sector, so every offer, pay review, and budget line is grounded in what the market actually pays.
It also matters for compliance: a documented, market-based pay structure is the foundation the gender pay gap regime and the incoming pay transparency rules expect you to be able to show. Our guide to the rising average salary in Ireland sets out why standing still on pay is rarely a neutral choice.
Budget with confidence
Forecast payroll for new hires, pay reviews, and expansion against real market figures rather than guesswork.
Negotiate from evidence
Back every salary conversation, internal or external, with objective third-party data instead of opinion.
Stand behind your pay
Show a documented, market-grounded basis for pay decisions if equal pay or transparency questions ever arise.
Decision-ready, not a data dump.
What a Market Rate Report Actually Contains
A PurpleTree market rate report is a decision-ready document, not a spreadsheet dump. For each role in scope we show where the market sits, how your current pay compares, and what we recommend you do about it.
The report draws on current salary survey data for your sector and is written so a board, a finance lead, or a hiring manager can act on it without needing to interpret raw figures. Every report is built around your roles, your sectors, and the regions of Ireland you actually hire in, rather than a single blended national average.
- Median and quartile pay for each role, so you see the full range, not one number
- A clear comparison of your current pay against the market position
- Total reward context where it matters, covering bonuses and benefits as well as base
- Regional variation across Ireland rather than one blended national figure
- Plain recommendations and an executive summary your leadership can act on
Clarity on which tool fits your question.
Market Rate Report or Salary Benchmarking
These terms get used interchangeably, and they are closely related, but they are not the same thing. Salary benchmarking is the comparison exercise: we measure your roles against the current Irish market and advise where you should sit.
The market rate report is the documented output of that work, the evidence pack you keep, share, and act on. A salary survey is the wider dataset that feeds both. Most employers use them together, with the benchmarking giving you the judgement and the report giving you the record.
If you want the analysis and advice as an ongoing input to pay decisions, start with our salary benchmarking service. If you need a documented report to put in front of a board or a candidate, that is what this service delivers.
- Salary survey: the broad market dataset for a role
- Salary benchmarking: the comparison and advice on where you should sit
- Market rate report: the documented, decision-ready deliverable you keep and act on
Roles compared by what they really do.
How We Build Your Report
Accurate benchmarking starts with accurate job matching. We compare your roles to genuinely similar ones by their actual duties, skills, and level of responsibility, not by job title, because two roles with the same title can sit a full quartile apart in reality.
From there we apply current Irish salary data and present the findings using the measures that matter: the median, which is the most reliable indicator of typical market pay; the mean, which gives a general sense of pay levels but can be pulled by outliers; and quartiles, which show the lower and upper ends of the range so you can decide where to position each role.
Where a role is unusual or hard to match cleanly, we tell you that in the report rather than forcing a comparison that would mislead you. If your roles need a consistent internal structure first, our job evaluation and grading service puts that framework in place.
- Roles matched by duties and responsibility, not job title alone
- Median used as the core measure of typical market pay
- Quartiles to show the full pay range for confident positioning
- Honest flags where a role is hard to match, never a forced comparison
Sharper calls on budgets, offers and retention.
Where the Report Changes a Decision
A market rate report earns its keep when it changes a decision. On budgeting, it lets you forecast payroll for new hires, pay reviews, and expansion against real figures instead of guesswork, so you can balance attracting talent with managing cost.
On hiring, it gives every offer a defensible floor and ceiling. On retention, it tells you which roles are drifting below market before people leave over it. And on reward strategy, it feeds directly into how you build packages that are competitive and sustainable.
Our pay and reward service turns the findings into a coherent package, and where benefits are part of the picture, our guide to employee benefits in Ireland covers the options beyond base salary.
- Forecast payroll budgets and the cost of pay reviews accurately
- Set offers with a defensible floor and ceiling for each role
- Spot roles drifting below market before retention becomes a problem
- Feed a competitive, sustainable reward strategy
Useful well beyond the yearly pay review.
The Moments It Pays Off
A market rate report is not only for the annual pay round. Irish employers reach for one at the specific moments where getting pay wrong is expensive, whether that is a single critical hire or a board paper that has to stand up to scrutiny.
Competitive hiring
Setting an offer for a role you cannot afford to lose to a higher bidder.
Retention and counter-offers
Deciding whether to match an outside offer, and where the ceiling sits.
Pay reviews and budgets
Building the annual pay round and payroll budget on current market figures.
Restructures and growth
Pricing new or changed roles when you expand, merge teams, or restructure.
Pay equity and transparency
Underpinning a defensible pay structure ahead of gender pay gap and transparency duties.
Board and investor scrutiny
Giving leadership a documented, market-based basis for compensation decisions.
Figures drawn from the local market, not abroad.
Why Irish Employers Choose PurpleTree
PurpleTree is an Irish HR consultancy based in Longford, advising employers across the country on pay and reward. Our market rate reports are built on current data for the Irish market and on our own experience of what businesses here actually pay, rather than a figure adapted from another country's market.
We tailor every report to your industry, your company size, and the specific roles you need matched, and we present the findings clearly so leadership can act without wading through raw data. We scope and price each report in writing before we start, so you know the cost up front without open-ended hourly billing.
For employers who want benchmarking as a standing input rather than a one-off, the work can sit within an outsourced HR retainer, and you can see the wider strategic picture on our strategic consulting page. See how we price HR support before you get in touch.
- Current data for the Irish market, matched to your roles
- Reports tailored to your industry, size, and specific roles
- Findings presented clearly for leadership, not a raw data dump
- Scope and fee agreed in writing, without open-ended hourly billing
Get a market rate report for your roles
Tell us the roles you need benchmarked, your sector, and the regions you hire in, and we will scope a market rate report that gives you current, defensible pay data to act on. See how we price HR support, then talk to us about your business specifically.
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Common questions from employers
A salary survey is a broad dataset showing what a population of employers pays for a given role. A market rate report is the tailored document PurpleTree builds for your business from that kind of data. It matches your specific roles to the market, shows median and quartile pay for each, and adds plain recommendations on where to position your pay. The survey is the raw input; the report is the decision-ready deliverable you can put in front of your board or a candidate.
Salary benchmarking is the comparison exercise: we measure your roles against the current Irish market and advise where you should sit. The market rate report is the documented output of that work, the evidence pack you keep and act on. Most clients use them together. See our salary benchmarking service for the analysis side of the work.
We draw on current Irish salary survey data, sector pay sources, and our own experience advising employers across the country, then match it to your roles by their actual duties rather than job title alone. Where a role is unusual or hard to match cleanly, we say so in the report rather than forcing a comparison that would mislead you.
A report is scoped to the number of roles, the depth of analysis, and the sectors involved, so we agree the fee with you in writing before we start rather than billing by the hour. For employers on an outsourced HR retainer, benchmarking work can often sit within the agreed level of support. See how we price HR support.
Pay moves, so a report has a shelf life. Most employers refresh their market rate data every twelve to eighteen months, and sooner if they are entering a hiring push, restructuring, or losing people to competitors on salary. Because average pay in Ireland has been rising, a report that is two years old can quietly leave you below market without anyone noticing.
It supports both. Robust market rate data underpins a defensible pay structure, which is exactly what the gender pay gap regime and the incoming pay transparency rules expect you to be able to show. The report is not a substitute for formal gender pay gap reporting, but it gives you the evidence base those obligations rely on.
You choose. Base salary alone is enough for some decisions, but pay is only part of the package. Where it matters, we extend the report to total reward, covering bonuses, benefits, and other elements so you are comparing like with like. Our pay and reward service turns those findings into a coherent package.
It depends on how many roles you need matched and how readily they map to available market data. A focused report on a handful of roles turns around quickly; a full-organisation review takes longer because each role is matched on duties, not just title. We agree a realistic timeline with you when we scope the work, so you know what to expect before we begin.