National Living Wage has increased by 28.4% over the last three years rising from £8.91 in April 2021 to £11.44in April 2024. The latest increase to £12.21, effective from 1 April 2025, is expected to cause a greater impact not just for hourly paid workers but also salaried employees close to this threshold.

The vast majority of clients and businesses we speak to cite labour costs as one of the biggest influences when making future decisions. Most clients and businesses have been unable to match the National Living Wage % increases across their workforce as it simply isn’t viable. With National Insurance Employer Contributions also increasing this April we have spoken with many employers about their recruitment plans for the remainder of the year.

The combined effect of increased National Living Wage and National Insurance Contributions is creating significant challenges for businesses across various sectors. Clients are exploring various strategies to manage these costs, including pay structures and employee benefits.

At Hales Group Ltd, our Insights Brand is dedicated to providing the latest data and trends, ensuring we source the right talent for your teams, quickly and efficiently!

How can Hales Insights help you? Let me explain:

• Understanding the current salary trends allows you to position your job advert and offer competitively.
• Attract top talent by ensuring your compensation package is appealing compared to other employers in the market.
• Accurate salary information helps with effective budget planning!
• Providing clear and accurate salary information builds transparency with potential candidates.
• Being up to date with the latest salary information equips you with the information you need should you have to negotiate an offer or counteroffers.
• Knowing how many job seekers are looking for specific positions helps us to measure candidate availability.
• By measuring candidate availability we can tailor our recruitment strategy to attract the top talent!
• By tailoring our recruitment strategy we can focus on areas with higher candidate availability to maximise efficiency and time to recruit
• By being efficient and saving time we minimise your time to recruit, you only see the right CVs for the right candidates because we know where to look!

Should you want to know more please reach out to me via email: kirsty.walpole@halesgroup.co.uk and I would be happy to have a chat about a specific role or your seasonal peaks. There is no extra cost for Hales Insights, it is all part of the Hales Group service!