Thursday 5th November, 2015

According to the Robert Half 2016 Salary Guide, starting salaries for professional occupations including finance and accounting, financial services, information technology and administration will grow by an average of 3% over the next 12 months.

This is a higher increase than predicted in last year’s guide, which identified a 2.6% rise. It is also slightly higher than the average annual salary rise of 2.8% announced by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in October 2015 and well ahead of the current inflation rate of -0.1%.

Starting salaries for accountancy and finance roles are predicted to rise on average by 2.2% across 100 positions in SME and large businesses. Overall, there are higher rises on offer for more senior-level roles, reflecting the ongoing need for finance professionals who can add value through business partnering and providing strategic insight for the business, not just fiscal control.

Phil Sheridan, Senior Managing Director, Robert Half UK commented: "Businesses are actively seeking the skilled professionals they need to achieve their growth goals. With the growing supply and demand imbalance, salaries for specialised roles are expected to rise. Hard-to-fill roles are experiencing higher than average pay rises due to the increased competition for these candidates."

The Salary Guide enables employers and employees to benchmark salaries for 275 different permanent professional roles on a national and regional basis.