HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Sharp Consultancy's Salary Survey 2025/26: Resetting the Landscape: Strategic Shifts in Finance Recruitment

It would be remiss not to start by addressing the elephant in the room — 2024 was a challenging year.While there were many reasons for this and numerous industries were affected, recruitment likely bore the brunt of it, particularly in the 6 months post-election(s).Whilst key roles and critical hires remained unaffected, certain head counts and processes were scrutinised and investment paused with internal restructures and automation utilised to reduce costs, in some instances, at the expense of employees. We subsequently saw an increase in candidate activity, with the talent pool strengthening. As those pressures eased in Quarter 4, recruitment processes saw improvement and green shoots have emerged. Optimism is on the rise in key hiring processes, albeit with a caveat. The cloud of additional cost increases in April, which is still dissipating. The senior finance and C-Suite market remains relatively unaffected, both regarding opportunities and candidates, it is the levels below that we have seen more change. In the evolving landscape of working dynamics, the volume of hybrid working is gradually waning despite sustained interest from candidates, presenting fewer job opportunities. While the blend of office and remote work remains desirable, it is no longer the predominant factor, indicating a notable shift in priorities for clients and candidates’ acceptance alike. Conversations with candidates underscore a growing desire around the importance of having a supportive mentor or manager and many professionals are increasingly open to a full-time return to the office if it guarantees enhanced guidance and avenues for professional advancement. "The salaries throughout transactional finance have stabilised across the region."Throughout the professional practice market, some similar trends have been observed but there have been noticeable differences in the past year. Salaries across the range of candidates in professional practice, from AAT to fully Qualified (ACA/ACCA) individuals are still rising and those firm’s able to offer competitive salaries alongside stronger training contracts are beating out the competition in a candidate market with a growing focus on study support packages and career advancement opportunities for Part-Qualified candidates, indicating an increase in demand from employers and the volume of available job seekers. The salaries throughout transactional finance have stabilised across the region, in what feels like the longest period of stability seen since Q4 2020 and we expect transactional finance salaries to remain stable throughout 2025/26, with anticipated salary increments to be moderate compared to the significant increases observed throughout the last 2 years. AI & Systems (process automation) continues to impact accountancy and finance, in particular, across larger functions but this has increased the need for wider interim support to assist with the transition and implementation especially with large, automated processes. Whilst 2025-26 will not be the same marketplace for recruitment as seen in previous years, there is certainly a growing level of optimism and whilst a more settled market may be seen as a negative in some areas, for those that have weathered the peaks and troughs over a longer period of time, it will feel very normal and a strong setting for both employees and employers to take advantage and thrive, with an increasing emphasis on growth and development.Download the full Salary Survey here!

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When you receive a new job offer and need to establish whether the package you are offered is attractive, it can be hard to look beyond the salary and traditional benefits such as an annual bonus and company car or car allowance.

Many employees neglect to attribute ‘value’ to other – perhaps softer – benefits which are available or fail to take full advantage of potential incentives which are available when circumstances change. Here’s our advice on how to make employee benefits work for you.

Try to establish a ‘value’ to each benefit

Sometimes employees overlook individual benefits without weighing up what value they add to their package so it’s often helpful to try and equate a financial value to each. For example, if you have the opportunity to work from home how much could be saved on travel costs and commuting? Could this potentially off-set a slightly lower salary or lack of annual bonus? Could having the flexibility to set your one working hours pattern outside of the usual 9-5 potentially allow for savings to made on childcare arrangements?

What are your priorities?

It’s important to look at which priorities mean more to you depending upon your stage in life. A more generous employer contribution to your pension may hold more value to you now that it would have done previously. Or the opportunity to ‘buy’ more holidays could very valuable if you want to spend more time with your family.

Look at any discounts or incentives that are offered

As part of a company’s employee wellbeing strategy, you may find that you are entitled to a number of subsidised incentives and discounts. These can include gym and health club memberships, travel season tickets as well as money off at a number of retail, hospitality and leisure operators. Over time, these can add up to a fair amount of cash saved, particularly on items that you already regularly use.

Regularly review what options are available to you

Just because you can’t see a value in a particular benefit or incentive at the current time, it doesn’t mean that won’t change as your circumstances adjust over time. Make sure you regularly review which company benefits are available – many companies offer the option to tailor your own package so you may find that whilst private health care wasn’t a priority for you when you joined, it could be something which would now be very useful.

Seek out benefits that are advantageous to your career

A number of companies will include a provision for training or annual membership to a professional body which gives access to CPD resources as part of an employee’s package. The opportunity to develop your professional knowledge and expand your skill set could be invaluable as you look to build your career.

Make use of your benefits

It is important to ensure that you make use of the benefits which are available to you; and whilst there may be some which you feel are not especially relevant or useful to you currently, it is vital not to dismiss something which you may find valuable as your circumstances or priorities change.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT UStoday to discuss your recruitment needs with a member of our team.