Pay Rise for Brits As Annual Wage Hits £40k 

The typical UK wage handed £40,000 final month, in response to information from the newest UK Job Market Report, suggesting that employers can be prioritising expertise recognition this yr.

The report, launched by job matching platform Adzuna, has discovered that demand for expert and motivated employees has pushed salaries up by 7.15% from £37,577 in December 2023, which means the median UK employee will this yr earn an estimated £40,263 per yr. 

Final yr, we surveyed 531 SMEs about their spending plans for the approaching 12 months. Our findings present that slightly below 9 in ten enterprise leaders deliberate to extend wages this yr, suggesting that the brand new common might rise quickly in 2025.

UK pay beats inflation

With the rising price of residing nonetheless placing pressure on UK households, probably few of us would argue we’re getting higher off. However in response to the information, 2024 was a very good yr for UK pay. 

Final yr, official statistics present that pay packets elevated by 3.4% between September and November 2024 after inflation, the quickest tempo of progress for greater than three years.

The brand new quantity marks the primary time the determine has topped £40k since Adzuna first started publishing its Job Market Report again in 2016. 

It additionally means the common wage has risen by over £1,000 every year previously decade. Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) information exhibits that iIn 2015, median gross annual earnings for full-time staff was £27,600.

Ought to bosses be extra versatile?

Adzuna evaluation says the pay increase displays a surge in demand for expert employees, as bosses apparently elevate wages with a view to entice sought-after roles comparable to these in tech and AI.

Nonetheless, it won’t be working. The Job Market Report additionally exhibits that job openings at the moment are taking extra time to fill as bosses battle to draw the correct candidates, with the common length of job postings having elevated from 32.8 days to 34.1 days in December.

Whereas few of us would flip down a elevate, analysis means that staff might care much less about pay, with many as an alternative having their heads turned by versatile working advantages.

Employees surveys have proven that many UK job hunters would select working from dwelling over a pay rise, suggesting that providing extra area of interest worker advantages could be extra impactful for recruitment drives in 2025.

Shh! Wage transparency on the up

Unique survey findings from Startups point out that 88% of SMEs deliberate to extend worker wages in 2025, up from 82% final yr. 

Some staff might see huge windfalls. 15% of enterprise leaders informed us they deliberate to extend wages by 11%. For many, although, the bonus is prone to be smaller. One third of companies informed us they’ll up wages by 5% this yr, the most well-liked response total.

Employers appear to be shy about sharing these wage hikes with new hires, nonetheless. Adzuna’s analysis additionally exhibits that 2024 was the worst yr on report for wage transparency, with 54% of jobs advertisements selecting to cover wage info from candidates.

Clearly promoting wage may be engaging to job seekers because it means that the corporate is assured that their revealed supply is aggressive. Nonetheless, it may well trigger resentment if clear wage bands haven’t been established with current staff.

It won’t all be deliberate. Many job seekers have noticed an alarming development in direction of AI in recruitment which has led to a rising variety of poor high quality job specs being revealed. In keeping with an iHire survey, solely 48.6% of employers now assume their job advertisements are efficient.

CEO salaries proceed to rise

Pay could be rising shortly for UK staff, nevertheless it must skyrocket with a view to compete with common wage rises for the nation’s top-earners.

CEO salaries have been climbing upwards at a report charge over the previous few years. Evaluation from the Excessive Pay Centre has discovered that by noon on 6 January, the UK’s high chief executives had already out-earned the median employee’s wage for the entire of 2025.

Median FTSE 100 CEO pay at present stands at £4.22 million, which suggests it’s now round 104x larger than the common wage introduced by Adzuna.