UK hiring struggles in 2025: Over half of professionals seek new jobs amidst stagnant salaries
The British jobs market is facing increasing challenges in 2025, with more than half of professionals actively seeking new roles and businesses struggling to attract top talent due to salary and benefits concerns.
New research from global talent services company Morgan McKinley UK reveals that 56% of British professionals plan to actively search for a new job in the next six months. The findings highlight an increasingly competitive hiring landscape, with 40% of hiring managers planning to recruit over the same period.
The research, conducted by Morgan McKinley as part of its 2025 Salary Guide, highlights a key challenge facing employers: the ability to attract top talent. 59% of businesses reported losing out on candidates in the past six months due to uncompetitive salary and benefits packages. In fact, employee satisfaction with benefits remains lukewarm, with 59% of professionals feeling ‘neutral’, ‘dissatisfied’, or ‘highly dissatisfied’ with their current offerings.
Despite a strong desire for flexible working arrangements, 45% of organisations are requiring employees to be in the office for more than three days a week. Meanwhile, half of UK companies kept their salary bandings static over the second half of 2024, making it difficult to entice new talent in a market where remuneration remains a key decision factor.
Looking ahead to 2025, 63% of British employers plan to increase salary offers for certain, hard-to-fill roles, signalling a shift in compensation strategies to address hiring difficulties. However, professionals remain cautiously optimistic, with only 40% expecting to receive a pay increase this year.
“The UK job market remains competitive, and organisations need to be more strategic in their talent acquisition efforts,” said Victoria Walmsley, managing director at Morgan McKinley UK. “Salary, benefits, and workplace flexibility continue to be key decision-making factors for professionals and employers must take a strategic approach to pay and benefits to retain top talent.”
Walmsley continued: “Businesses that fail to evolve risk losing top talent. We are seeing a shift from incremental salary increases and outdated hiring models towards more strategic talent retention initiatives – job seekers are demanding greater transparency on salary ranges and clear progression paths as well as flexibility and career growth. Employers who embrace these changes will have the strongest advantage. The British job market has settled into a measured pace after the rapid post-pandemic shifts. While economic, political, and regulatory challenges persist, companies that invest in salary transparency, structured career progression, and flexible working policies will be best positioned to secure and retain top talent in 2025.”
The Morgan McKinley 2025 Salary Guide presents up-to-date and accurate salary data for a wide range of roles across the UK, providing hiring managers with industry benchmarks when they are working out what to pay employees and giving professionals more visibility over what they can earn.
Research from 530 businesses and 2751 professionals was conducted to ascertain companies’ hiring intentions for 2025, the primary drivers for job changes, and salary increase expectations.