Hiring Has Turned a Corner — But the Budget Is Casting a Long Shadow
After nearly four years of decline, the UK jobs market has finally steadied. And in seven weeks’ time, the Chancellor stands up to deliver an Autumn Budget that a lot of finance directors are quietly dreading.
For anyone hiring — or looking — in finance and accountancy, that combination makes this autumn one of the more interesting windows we’ve seen in a while. Here’s how we’re reading it.
The numbers have quietly stopped falling
The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs published in August found that permanent placements stabilised in July, ending a downturn that had run for 45 consecutive months. Temporary billings rose again, with growth among the strongest recorded in three years, and permanent vacancies posted their softest decline in 22 months.
That is not a boom. Nobody is claiming otherwise. But after almost four years of the same headline — placements down, again — a flat line is genuinely news. It suggests employers who spent 2024 and 2025 sitting on their hands have started, cautiously, to move.
Pay has been telling a similar story. Hays’ latest research found 90% of accountancy and finance employers increased salaries over the past year, by an average of 3.4% — comfortably ahead of the 2.2% average across all UK sectors — with 85% expecting to raise them again. When employers pay above the market average during a soft market, it usually means they’re struggling to find the people they need.
And then there’s 28 October
The Autumn Budget has been confirmed for Wednesday 28 October 2026, and it lands on top of a cost base that has already shifted. Employer National Insurance sits at 15%, with the secondary threshold down at £5,000, and the National Living Wage rose to £12.71 in April. Whatever the Chancellor announces, most businesses go into the autumn already carrying more payroll cost than they did two years ago.
The predictable response is to freeze. We are hearing it already: let’s see what the Budget says, then we’ll decide on the finance hire.
Why “wait and see” is more expensive than it looks
We understand the instinct. But there are three practical problems with parking a hire until November.
The good candidates aren’t waiting. The Report on Jobs noted that candidate availability is still rising, but the rate of growth has slipped to a five-month low. Volume of applicants is not the same as quality of applicants — the qualified ACA, ACCA and CIMA finance professionals worth hiring have always moved quickly, and a genuinely strong management accountant or financial controller who comes to market in September will typically be gone by mid-October.
Q4 is the worst quarter to start from scratch. Notice periods in qualified finance run at one to three months. A hire you begin in November realistically starts in February — after year-end planning, after budget season, and after the very period you probably wanted the extra pair of hands.
Uncertainty doesn’t end on Budget day. Detail follows in consultations and Finance Bill stages that run well into next year. If the plan is to wait for full clarity, there is always another reason to wait.
What the employers getting this right are doing
The businesses hiring well this autumn aren’t being reckless — they’re being deliberate. In practice that means: keeping a live pipeline even when a role isn’t signed off yet, so that when approval comes they’re starting from a shortlist rather than a blank page. Being honest and fast in process — two well-run stages beat four drifting ones, and a strong candidate will read a slow process as a lack of interest. And using interim or fixed-term cover where a permanent headcount genuinely can’t be justified yet; the temp market’s strength this year suggests plenty of others have reached the same conclusion.
If you’re a candidate
The stabilising market is a real opening, but it rewards preparation over speed. Make sure your CV leads with outcomes rather than duties — the reporting cycle you shortened, the audit you took ownership of, the system you implemented. Employers under cost pressure are buying impact, not job titles. And if you’re considering a move before Christmas, start conversations now: the roles being scoped in September are the ones that interview in October.
Let’s talk
At EPS Recruitment we work with finance and accountancy teams across London, the Home Counties, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, in both practice and industry, and we spend our days having exactly these conversations — with employers weighing up whether to move now, and with candidates weighing up whether it’s the right moment.
If you’re planning a hire this autumn, or thinking about your next step, we’d be glad to give you an honest read on where the market actually is. Get in touch — no obligation, and no hard sell.
Sources: KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs, August 2026; Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends, accountancy and finance; HM Treasury Autumn Budget date confirmation (28 October 2026).
