Hiring trends for 2025: what should you expect for the year ahead?

Adaptive working (remote, hybrid)

Workforce transformation

Labour market

Salaries and roles

Workplace research

Article

Research and insights

UK hiring trends for 2025

Remuneration trends
Hybrid working becomes more divisive
The ongoing influence of automation and AI

Are you prepared for the future of hiring? With new tech and changing expectations shifting the world of work, business and career success favours those who can make informed decisions quickly.

Plan your next move using key highlights and hiring trends from the new 2025 Salary Guide — an annual report created by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. The research is compiled from 1,500 respondents (500 employers and 1000 employees) across tech, finance, marketing, administration and operations departments.

These are the main influences predicted to impact hiring in 2025, including salary and promotion trends, productivity initiatives, and attitudes towards hybrid working.

UK salary trends and hiring landscape

Hiring plans for 2025 are on the up. According to our data, nearly two in five business leaders plan to increase headcount in the coming months, leading to increased focus on high-quality compensation packages as a tool for acquisition and retention.

According to our data, 46% of companies plan to increase salaries in 2025. This is most notable in the tech and IT sector, where a third (34%) of employers say they’d increase salaries to stay competitive in the hiring market and attract skilled talent.

Interestingly, almost half (43%) of workers prioritise job security over salary increases. Currently, stability is a critical concern in the workforce.

Generational pay expectations

There’s a generational disconnect regarding salary expectations for 2025. Although all four workplace generations have increased salary expectations overall, Gen Z appear to be most demanding, with 67% of employers agreeing that their expectations have risen since last year. Millennials follow close behind at 64%, which could indicate how severely the cost-of-living crisis impacts these two up-and-coming generations.

In comparison, only 37% of employers feel that Gen X have become more demanding where salary is concerned. Baby Boomers represent a more nuanced point of view from the employer perspective, with 22% saying they’re more demanding and 21% saying they’re less demanding.

Flexible benefits are the go-to acquisition tool

Almost half of employers (43%) currently offer flexible benefits, and a further 29% plan to introduce them in 2025, making this one of the top remuneration perks for attracting talent and mitigating the ongoing skills shortage. It remains one of the most-requested worker perks, with 39% saying they’d like to see this implemented in future.

Although employees are interested in stress reduction programmes as part of their remuneration package (an addition that could improve productivity and retention rates), they’re also keen on benefits that help ease living costs. These include financial support for remote work (50%), a 13-month salary (48%), and benefits which help support daily life (such as fuel allowances, meal vouchers, and subsidised public transport).

Show up to go up

Employers remain set on the belief that there’s a strong correlation between high employee productivity and their presence in the office. Nearly half of businesses (45%) have already mandated set ‘in office’ days to improve productivity, with 28% planning to follow suit in 2025.

There’s also a direct link between an employee’s physical presence in the office and their chances of advancement. According to our data, 68% of employers admitted that an employee’s physical presence in the office significantly impacts their promotion chances.

However, this isn’t an entirely effective way to encourage employees to relinquish time spent working from home. Where 42% of employees would increase their presence if their employer suggested it might impact their chances of a promotion, 23% said they’d look for a new job, and 21% would do nothing, as working from home is more important to them than a promotion.

Read: Jobs Confidence Index

Employee vs employer outlooks on flexible working

Despite employers’ firm belief that in-office days increase productivity, workers don’t agree. Almost three-quarters (73%) feel hybrid working positively impacts their productivity.

To underscore the division in opinions between workers and employers further, 34% of workers believe working full-time in the office would negatively impact their productivity, and only 9% believe the same is true of hybrid working.

Automation and AI adoption to increase productivity

AI and automation now sit as one of the top business-critical priorities for 2025. Nearly three-quarters of UK employers (72%) plan to encourage employees to explore generative AI tools to help streamline routine tasks and improve productivity in the next twelve months. This is most notable in the IT and tech (72%), marketing and creative (70%), and finance (67%) sectors.

Similarly, 44% of businesses will implement automation and digital transformation initiatives to help boost productivity in the coming 12 months. Regarding worker sentiment, 60% believe AI will positively impact their careers and skills, especially workers in tech and IT (67%) and marketing and creative (65%).

Training and reskilling remain key

The hiring landscape is still plagued by the ongoing skills shortage, which has only widened due to the rapid pace of technological advancement. At present, 65% of employers offer in-house training, and 52% have implemented training and development opportunities to increase productivity.

Workers are also taking their development into their own hands — 43% are pursuing paid time off for external learning or external training paid for by their employer (40%).

Although steady steps are being made towards closing the gap for good, it’s an issue that requires additional support from Government and educational facilities to ensure the UK economy has the skills it needs to thrive.

Check out the Robert Half 2025 Salary Guide now or visit our blog to learn more about upcoming hiring trends and ways to stay competitive.

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