The number of job postings that come with a signing bonus has fallen by a quarter, research by job search engine Adzuna has found.
Analysis of nearly 900,000 UK job adverts posted in January 2024 found that 6,920 offered a signing bonus, down from 9,055 in January 2023.
The healthcare and nursing sector was the most likely to offer a welcome bonus, with 2,940 positions in this sector coming with this perk
The largest bonus seen by Adzuna was £40,000 for a medical director and psychiatrist in NHS’ mental health service CAMHS. Other top-paying signing bonuses included £20,000 for an oncologist or a histopathologist in the NHS; a £10,000 bonus for an optometrist at Boots and Specsavers; and £10,000 for a dental associate in Dumfries.
Outside of healthcare, welcome bonuses were fairly common in engineering (1,361 roles), social work (885) and teaching (465).
Some employers also offered incentives to employees who referred a successful candidate into a role, with 32,781 job adverts mentioning a referral bonus. The top three sectors offering this perk in January were teaching (7,277 job ads), social work (5,936), and healthcare and nursing (5,611).
Referral bonuses are becoming more common in travel, charity work, the legal sector and engineering. There was a 365% increase in travel roles coming with referral bonuses compared with January 2023.
Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said: “Money talks, and companies are doing their level best to financially incentivise jobseekers, even though they are grappling with economic headwinds. We’re seeing companies offering signing bonuses as a sweetener in sectors with a dire talent shortage, for example, healthcare, engineering, and teaching.
“Jobseekers who want this financial sweetener, make sure to check the fine print before taking the plunge as there might be hidden clauses like minimum time commitment or performance goals.”
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