At a glance:
- 58% of UK accountants are considering looking for a new job in 2026.
- Salary is not the main driver; performance-based pay is more valued.
- Better career progression and flexible work are the top motivators for changing jobs.
- Firms can retain staff with clear career paths, flexibility, and a positive culture.
For many UK accountants, 2026 could be a year of career recalibration. According to new research from recruitment agency Spencer Clarke Group, 58% of accountants are considering looking for a new job in 2026.
This isn’t dissatisfaction with accounting work. The same Spencer Clarke Group report shows 94% of accountancy professionals say they are “likely” or “very likely” to remain in the profession for the next five years. And the bulk, 76%, described themselves as “very likely” to stay in the profession.
But while most accountants aren’t walking away from their accounting career, the majority are interested in changing employers. They want to walk out of one firm and into another.
The stagnant UK job market
The UK job market has recently been in what you might call “low-hire, low-fire” mode. Unemployment has stayed relatively low, at around 5%. Both employers and employees have been generally cautious. Employment Hero’s 2025 Annual Jobs Report found 55% of UK workers are now prioritising job security, and 51% have no plans to leave their current job.
This caution has extended to the professions. In November 2025, leading recruiter Hays published its UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2026. Hays’ figures seem to confirm that the uncertain job market has been keeping the lid on salary increases at professional firms. Across the professions, Hays says, salaries increased by an average of just 2.2% over the year to late 2025. In contrast, inflation over the period was around 3.0%. So professionals as a group actually went slightly backwards.
Yet there are signs job market pressures are building. Hays reports that most employers (93%) experienced skills shortages in the past 12 months – a figure unchanged from the previous year. Hays said firms told it these skills shortages were hurting productivity (55%), employee morale (42%) and the ability to deliver projects (37%).
And Hays says it expects hiring challenges will continue into 2026. In its survey, 68% of employers predict there will be a shortage of suitable applicants when recruiting over the next 12 months, 56% expect applicants with unrealistic salary requirements and 53% think there will be high competition from other employers.
A November 2025 salary survey from another major recruiter, Robert Walters, adds to the picture of professional pay dissatisfaction. It found that across industries, less than half (46%) of white-collar professionals are expecting a pay rise in 2026. One result, according to the survey: 78% of professionals say they are open to pursuing new opportunities in 2026.
And this isn’t just the conclusion of one study. A November salary survey from another major recruiter, Robert Walters, found that across industries, less than half (46%) of white-collar professionals are expecting a pay rise in 2026. Meanwhile, 78% of professionals say they are open to pursuing new opportunities next year.
Pressures grow in accounting
For accountants, there are even more signs of change. On Spencer Clarke’s figures, more accountants appear to want to move than is the case for their counterparts in many other industries.
And Hays pointed out that accountants were one of the groups to beat the 2025 average pay rise for professionals. Accountants’ salary increases averaged 3.4% – slightly above inflation.
For accounting firms already battling skills shortages and rising client demands, the level of potential churn may be unsettling. Some experts say replacing a senior accountant in London can cost an organisation around £100,000 in one-off costs.
But employees do not stay still forever. “It’s rare in this day and age for people to stay with your practice for 30 years,” says Karen Gately, founder of leadership and people-management consultancy Corporate Dojo. “Some of them might – you might have your future partners sitting in your business currently – but what we want to do is optimise tenure, not keep people here forever.”
So why is such a large proportion of accounting professionals looking to jump ship this year? And how can firms turn this enthusiasm for movement into an advantage rather than a risk?
Salary is not the whole story
Spencer Clarke’s research indicates that salary alone does not drive job mobility. In fact, it says just 18% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with their current salary. And only 3% described themselves as “very dissatisfied”.
Spencer Clarke said one accountant told it: “It’s not 100% about salary. Everyone wants to be paid well, but not at the expense of work-life balance, health, and stress.”
Another said: ‘“It is not that I am unhappy with my pay; I am more unhappy that other people at my company get paid more than I do but do significantly less.”
Indeed, this was reportedly a popular sentiment, with 73% of respondents saying performance-based pay was either “important” or “very important” to them.
That suggests transparent bonus structures, plus clear links between performance and reward, may do more for retention than across-the-board salary increases.
Career progression and flexible work drive mobility
Among responding accountants who plan to seek a new job this year, according to Spencer Clarke’s survey data, the most common motivators were better career progression opportunities (39%) and opportunities to work flexibly (24%).
The Spencer Clarke Group research suggests progression is less about titles and more about direction. When asked about their five-year goals, 42% of accountants cited progression or development. Just 21% told survey staff they were aiming for promotion.
Flexible and remote work options are particularly valued among younger workers. Research conducted by The Times last year found that only one in 10 Gen Z workers want to work in the office full-time.
“Younger generations don’t get why older generations were willing to sacrifice their health and their soul to their employer, and they just won’t participate in that,” says Gately. “They want work-life integration, so it’s easier to manage all of the demands of life.”
What can firms do to retain their best people?
If accountants aren’t leaving the profession but are willing to leave their employer, retention becomes less about grand gestures and more about getting the fundamentals right.
According to Gately, the firms that hold on to talent tend to be the ones that are deliberate about culture, development, and workload.
Here are four practical actions firms can take now to keep their best people in 2026.
Make career paths visible
One recurring theme in the research is frustration with unclear progression. 84% of accountants surveyed by Spencer Clarke said having a clearly defined career path was important. But many felt uncertain about the routes available to them.
“Finding ways to help people to have a career within your firm, rather than just a job … is a key challenge,” says Gately.
One of the simplest ways to achieve that is sitting down with each employee to map their aspirations, identify capability gaps, and agree on what development looks like over the next one or two years.
Offer a range of flexible work options
With 45% of accountants ranking work-life balance as their most valued benefit – ahead of salary and other perks – flexibility has become a critical retention lever rather than an optional perk.
“If a firm is able to maintain a degree of flexible or remote working, that is going to be an advantage compared to some of their competitors,” says Gately.
Flexibility is not limited to hybrid working. It can include adjusted hours, compressed weeks, clearer boundaries around out-of-hours contact, or temporary flexibility during busy life stages.
Close the culture gap
Almost all accountants (97%) surveyed by Spencer Clarke believe company culture is “important” or “very important” when searching for a job in 2026, yet one in five rate their current workplace culture as “poor” or “very poor”.
According to Gately, the behaviours leaders reward, ignore, or tolerate quickly define the lived experience of the firm. Culture therefore needs active management.
That might look like defining behavioural expectations clearly, equipping managers to give regular and constructive feedback, and addressing underperformance early, respectfully and transparently.
Reduce friction and optimise systems
With tight deadlines, regulatory pressure, and client demands to contend with, accountants often operate under high levels of pressure.
According to a survey by the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association, accountants are over 36% more likely to report feeling stressed or burnt out than employees in other professions.
Burnout threatens not just wellbeing, but talent retention, says Gately.
“When people get to a place of overwhelm, that creates levels of stress that are unhealthy and unsustainable.”
In many cases, stress stems less from the volume of work and more from inefficient or unclear processes and systems.
“If I don’t have some of the fundamental resources I need – the right equipment, access to information, or a system that actually works – that just adds to the stress and pressure.”
Reviewing workloads, clarifying responsibilities, and ensuring employees have the resources they need can remove unnecessary stress and prevent talent from quietly looking elsewhere.
In a market defined by movement, the firms that treat people strategy with the same rigour as client service will be the ones best placed to turn the accountancy reshuffle into a competitive advantage.
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