Our most comprehensive guide to date, the 2024 Salary, Benefits and Skills guide is here. This year we invited over 100,000 employers and employees across the UK to share their thoughts on salary and bonus packages, in-demand roles and how they are differentiating themselves in the market to attract and retain top talent.
Covering UK salary and benefit packages for over 600 roles, the most in-demand skills, as well as the latest training and development solutions, this guide is a must-read for businesses focussing on talent acquisition and retention in the new year. What’s more, our in-depth review of new and emerging workplace trends, alongside detailed employment predictions for the next twelve months will ensure businesses are ahead of the game with their hiring strategy.
So what did we find? Well over half of employers surveyed expect turnover to increase over the next twelve months, with 60% stating they’re planning on hiring new talent in 2024.59% also reported a moderate or extreme skills shortage in the past twelve months. This perfect storm of an already noticeable skills shortage paired with increased demand for talent, forecasts a competitive 2024 for organisations across sectors. 92% of employers have offered employees a pay rise in the last twelve months, perhaps due to 78% of the same employers reporting salary-related resignations.
Potentially a direct result of the above paired with an already volatile economy, employee retention continues to, and quite rightly should be, on the top of an employer’s agenda. With soaring energy and property costs, alongside rising inflation, employers report a concern that salary increases may not be significant enough to match expectations.
So what else can be done? 76% of employers surveyed use their employee value proposition (EVP) as a means to attract talent. In fact, a surprising 18% of those surveyed are trialling, or have trialled, a four day work week. While completely restructuring the work week may be too big a change for the majority of businesses, our report contains some practical ways organisations can drastically improve their EVP and showcase themselves as employers of choice.
Here’s a sneak peek:
Be transparent around salaries– Perhaps the easiest tactic to implement and yet one with measurable pay-off; not only does transparency help manage expectations, it also helps foster an engaged and positive workforce. A substantial 81% of employees stated their employer is not transparent about pay levels, it’s something businesses should certainly not overlook.
Review your benefits package– With the current climate proving challenging for businesses to increase salaries, there are several other ways employers can compete for top talent. Employees continually report flexible working as a top priority. Much like salary transparency, flexible working isn’t necessarily costly to implement but it is a powerful tool for embedding employee satisfaction company-wide.
Invest in training and development – 40% of employees report looking for more practical support with their professional development. Given the challenges of an increasingly widening skills gap, up-skilling existing employees is not only a fantastic way to increase morale and loyalty, but a practical way for employers to ensure the skills are there for business targets to be met.
But what do these figures look like within specific sectors? Our guide focuses on the General Insurance, Financial Services and Legal specialisms, while also offering detailed insights on verticals like energy and commodities, wealth management, claims and broking. Choose a specialism, find a niche and explore our guide to better position your business for an exciting 2024.
Access the full exclusive report here.
