Brighton workers get biggest boost to pay packet

Pay packet boost for Brighton employees (Photograph: Hugh O'Neill, Fotolia)

That’s according to research by job site CV-Library, which compared its job market data from February 2017 with February 2016.

It showed salaries were up 9.9 per cent year-on-year in Brighton, and that salaries in the city also jumped month-on-month, rising by two per cent in February.

Topping the list for year-on-year pay hikes, Brighton was followed by Edinburgh (9.5 per cent), Hull (8.6 per cent), Bristol (8.6 per cent) and Manchester (6.8 per cent).

Alongside this, job vacancies in Brighton increased by 5.3 per cent during this period, suggesting that business confidence is strong throughout the city.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, said: “It’s great to see that Brighton is the top city for salary growth – the city is a hub to some very exciting organisations, and with direct links to London it has quickly become a secondary hub of economic activity. With more and more organisations putting out job adverts, competition to attract skilled workers is fierce. The offering of strong pay packages is clearly one tactic that companies across the city are using in an effort to stay one step ahead of their competition.”

Despite this year-on-year growth, applications saw a drop of 3.3 per cent when comparing year-on-year data, and an even higher 14.9 per cent when looking at month-on-month statistics. This suggests that despite the rise in salary and job offerings, candidate appetite is not keeping pace.

Mr Biggins said: “It’s unsurprising to see applications dropping off after January; the mantra of ‘New Year, new me’ means that January is traditionally one of the busiest periods for recruiters, with job applications vastly increasing in number. The challenge for businesses now is to tap into this talent pool while it’s still available. As a result, we’re seeing increasingly fierce activity from companies, with job postings and salaries on the rise. All this bodes well for the candidates out there looking for their next move, with companies keen to bring in the best talent.”