Yahoo Finance Why changing jobs now before Brexit could lead to a massive pay rise
Want a pay rise? Changing jobs now could see you earn almost 17% more than moving roles at the end of last year, according to new figures.
A report by online jobs board CV-Library has revealed average salaries for new roles advertised in the UK increased by a resounding 16.7% in the first quarter of 2019.
CV-Library’s analysis of its data from the first quarter of 2019 compared to the last quarter of 2018 found there were 4.1% more jobs on offer in the first three months of this year.
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The higher salaries may reflect employers’ difficulties persuading workers to switch jobs, with CV-Library figures suggesting Brexit uncertainty is deterring job moves.
Average salaries for new roles in the UK have increased by 3.4% since the end of 2018, suggesting there is “no better time to start looking for a new job”, the company said.
Edinburgh is the city where average salaries on CV-Library are rising fastest, with pay up 9.8% in the past three months. Liverpool (8.2%), Sheffield (7.2%), Brighton (4.8%) and Cardiff (4.4%) follow closely behind.
READ MORE: UK jobs with fastest-rising pay of 2019
The sectors with fastest-growing pay include agriculture, which saw an average salary increase of almost a third (31.3%), the public sector (16.3%), hospitality (10.3%), charity (10%) and customer service jobs (9.2%).
“With Brexit now postponed for at least another six months, this has left employers desperate to find new staff as uncertainty builds,” explained Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library. “As a result, many have attempted to lure in Brits with higher paid salaries for new roles.”
“For people searching for a job, there is no better time than the present. This trend of rising pay for new roles has been common over the last four quarters and doesn’t look likely to change.”
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Despite these upward trends, CV-Library’s data does suggest professionals are still hesitant over the prospect of job hunting. It saw a decrease in job applications in the UK by 4.7% in the first quarter of the year.
“Despite there being more jobs on offer, with higher pay, our data shows that candidate confidence is actually shrinking,” said Biggins.
“With our exit from the EU becoming a bit of a farce, companies are starting to ease up and offer more new roles, so now’s as good a time as any to start applying for jobs again.”
