The salaries for reward and compensation specialists will increase by up to 14%, research from Robert Walters shows.
The recruitment consultant said increasing legislation - including rules requiring firms to publish the relative pay levels of male and female employees - has meant businesses are keen to recruit professionals to oversee and implement these projects.
It said this sense of urgency, compounded by a lack of highly skilled and experience reward and compensation specialists available, has led to employers offering generous salaries to attract top talent.
Robert Walters manager Nick Allwood explained: "Compensation and reward specialists are seeing growing demand for their skills.
"Mid-level professionals will be most highly sought after for these roles, with employers looking to recruit staff who can play key roles in developing strategies and processes to ensure compliance with legislation while also have the core technical skills to implement them."
"Employers continue to struggle to find highly skilled professionals to fill these roles, offering high salaries to attract top talent."
Allwood said learning and development specialists would also see strong salary growth in 2017 with compensation rising by 7% for those in senior roles.
He added: "Employers are increasingly recognising the importance of offering structured career progression in order to attract and retain the best candidates."
"As a result, businesses are prepared to invest in top calibre HR professionals specialising in learning and development. For these roles, employers are looking for professionals who can overhaul and improve learning and development programmes, creating industry leading offerings that will attract the best calibre candidates."
