​NATIONAL WORK LIFE WEEK

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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National Work Life Week (11 – 15 October) is Working Families’ annual campaign to get both employers and employees talking about wellbeing at work and work-life balance.

There are many reasons why employees may feel that their work life balance has gone or is going slightly out of kilter; from feeling overworked or overwhelmed to putting in additional hours at home after work or one weekends to wanting to carve out more or a better quality of family time.

As well as more formal arrangements around flexible working, there are a number of tips and suggestions that, with a few small adjustments, can help to make your working life and life outside work a more harmonious balance.

Reset your focus:

It can be tempting to try and get another task off your desk before the end of the day, however it is important to effectively manage your workload so you are clear on the most important deadlines each day and for the weeks ahead. If, after carefully considering your priorities, there are too many tasks to juggle or tight deadlines are looming, speak up and see where there may be some flexibility or team members with less pressing workloads available to assist.

Plan downtime into your working day:

Think about ways in which you can build in something for you during your working day whether that is using your daily commute to read or listen to an audio book or taking a proper break at lunchtime and getting outside for a brisk walk or attending an exercise class. If you are primarily working from home, its easy to fall into the temptation of a more relaxed start to the day but perhaps use some of the time saved on your commute to get some fresh air whether that’s an early morning walk or leaving the car behind to do the school run so you feel more energised for the day ahead.

Set some clear boundaries:

It is important to have a clear distinction between your work life and home life; avoid bringing work home as much as possible. There may be occasions when work is particularly busy and it becomes unavoidable – if so, make sure you schedule some time off at the earliest opportunity to recharge. If needing to work outside of your regular hours is becoming the norm you need to look at whether your workload, time management and expectations are realistic – make sure you speak to your manager so you can work together to find an amicable solution. If you work from home, as much as possible, try and put in place a ‘working day’ so you have a clear time frame for starting work and a recognised end of the day and ideally have a dedicated work area that you can leave behind.

For more information on National Work Life Week visit https://workingfamilies.org.uk/nationalworklifeweek/.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for temporary, interim and permanent roles across the full spectrum of positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today and speak to a member of our team about your next career move.