Pay report

Pay trends for incumbent employees: December 2025

After years of rapid growth, salary increases have moderated to a median of 4.4% for incumbent employees, yet the market remains complex and fragmented.

To navigate tight budgets and statutory changes effectively, you require more than just headline figures; you need granular insight into the specific movements across sectors and job functions.

• Data-driven certainty: Based on a matched sample of over 547,000 UK-based employees.
• Sector-specific clarity: From Public Services to Manufacturing, understand exactly where your industry stands.

Is your pay strategy keeping pace with the market nuances?

With National Insurance contributions rising and budgets tightening, relying on general averages is a risk you cannot afford. Move beyond manual research and empower your team with the specific insights needed to balance fiscal responsibility with talent retention.

Key insights:

• Divergent growth: Understand why entry-level roles are seeing increases of 6.7% while senior leadership roles have slowed to 3.0%.
• Sector volatility: See how functional pay is shifting, from the surge in Retail (9.1%) to the cooling Finance sector (2.5%).
• Strategic forecasting: Leverage data from 632 organisations to adopt leading practices in pay review planning for the challenging year ahead.