The results from the industry’s biggest salary survey, the Talent Insights & Salary Survey 2026 are coming soon.
Register below to join the waitlist for the launch of our annual report on the 6th of August 2026. Upon registering, we will send you the 2025 report and then share the new 2026 report shortly after the 6th of August.
Pay rises have shifted from reward to baseline expectation. In 2026, 81% received an increase and 92% expect one next year. The gap between expectation and delivery is now where the retention risk sits.
Why doing nothing is the biggest risk for businesses. The biggest retention risk isn't offering 3% vs 5% it's offering nothing. Silence signals a lack of recognition. Offering nothing at all drives disengagement faster than any pay gap.
Recognition sits at the centre of retention, if your exit interviews keep citing salary, look again.
These numbers suggest the real issue is often what happens day to day: does someone feel appreciated, do they have some control over how they work, and can they see a path forward. Salary gets people in the door. These three get them to stay.
The 2026 skills shift, human skills now lead over technical capability.
Leadership, empathy, and communication are what the workforce says matters most. Technical skills rank fourth, below every relational competency. Whilst AI handles the transactional layer, the skills that matter most are precisely what AI cannot replicate. The professionals your clients need most are the ones AI can’t replace.
Salary remains the number one driver for employees, consistent with last year’s findings and reflective of ongoing cost-of-living pressures and increased market transparency.
But what we’re seeing is a shift. Salary is now the baseline for attraction and retention, not the differentiator. What stands out is the growing importance of the overall employee experience, particularly how organisations deliver on flexibility, development, and day-to-day working environments.
Salary remains the number one driver for employees, consistent with last year’s findings and reflective of ongoing cost-of-living pressures and increased market transparency.
But what we’re seeing is a shift. Salary is now the baseline for attraction and retention, not the differentiator. What stands out is the growing importance of the overall employee experience, particularly how organisations deliver on flexibility, development, and day-to-day working environments.