As we move further into 2026, the finance employment landscape continues to evolve – shaped by shifting workforce expectations, emerging regulatory demands, and the growing influence of digital and data-driven skillsets. To help both employers and finance professionals navigate this changing environment, we’re proud to release our Finance Salary & Benefits Guide 2025/26.

Based on real‑time data from finance practitioners across the UK, the guide explores how salaries, benefits, skills needs and candidate behaviours have shifted over the past year—and what this means for the year ahead. Whether you’re hiring, benchmarking your team, or planning your next career move, this year’s guide offers essential, data‑rich insight.

Key Highlights from This Year’s Guide

1. Salary growth has softened—but stability remains

This year, 49% of finance professionals reported receiving a salary increase, while 51% saw no uplift. This marks a cooling trend compared to previous years, reflecting tighter budget control and more measured reward strategies across finance teams.

With hybrid working now established as the dominant model (53%), pay is increasingly being influenced by business performance and role criticality rather than geography.

2. Hybrid working leads the benefits landscape

Hybrid/flexible working remains the most widely offered benefit in finance, with 55% of professionals having access to it.
Other widely offered benefits include:

• Health & life insurance – 42%
• Salary sacrifice schemes – 35%
• Employee Assistance Programmes – 33%

Meanwhile, traditional perks such as company cars (5%), transportation benefits (4%) and childcare assistance (3%) remain very limited.

3. Performance‑linked rewards dominate new benefit additions

Almost half of respondents (47%) said no new benefits were introduced by their employer in the past year.

Where additions were made, the most common new benefits were:

• Personal performance bonuses – 10%
• Hybrid/flexible working – 9%
• Employee discounts & company performance bonuses – 7%

This suggests organisations are focusing on high‑impact, lower‑cost benefits to support retention without significantly increasing overheads.

4. Finance professionals want rewards that recognise performance

When asked about their most desired benefits, the sector showed a clear preference for tangible, financially rewarding incentives:

Top desired benefits include:

• Personal performance bonus – 50%
• Company performance bonus – 37%
• Enhanced holidays – 37%
• Enhanced pension schemes – 28%
• Enhanced sick pay – 25%

Work‑life balance incentives, mobility benefits, and development opportunities also feature strongly—with car allowances and active training & development opportunities each desired by 21% of professionals.

This reflects a workforce focused on both immediate reward and long‑term security—while still valuing flexibility and progression.

5. Career movement is rising in 2026

While only 28% of finance professionals changed roles last year, a significant 55% now plan to look for a new role in 2026.

This shift suggests that slower pay growth, evolving ambitions and increased market activity are prompting finance professionals to reassess their next steps—signalling greater mobility and stronger competition for talent in the months ahead.

Get the Full Picture – Download Your Free Guide

Our Finance Salary & Benefits Guide 2025/26 provides detailed salary benchmarking across regions, sectors and job levels—plus deeper insight into:

• Hiring and skills trends
• Candidate expectations
• Benefit priorities
• Career movement
• Market outlook for 2026
• Emerging themes such as digital finance, ESG and regulatory change

Whether you’re planning budgets, building attraction strategies, or benchmarking your own role, this guide is an invaluable asset.

Download your FREE copy of the Finance Salary & Benefits Guide 2025/26 now
Click here to claim your copy and stay ahead of the market.