HR

As the UK’s startup ecosystem continues to thrive, 2025 brings a new set of HR challenges for budding businesses. From navigating hybrid working, the fierce competition for skilled talent to staying ahead of regulatory changes, and fostering inclusive company cultures, startups are finding themselves in a place where they need to combine operational excellence with their innovation.

Towergate Employee Benefits predicts that ensuring ‘everybody benefits’ from health and wellbeing support must be a major and essential HR focus for 2025. All employees, at all levels and, crucially, the business itself must gain full advantage of employee benefits if businesses are to thrive in the coming year.

With 801,006 new startups registered between 2022 and 2023 – a 6.4% increase – competition for skilled talent remains fierce. To stand out, startups must provide more than competitive salaries and one area gaining attention is employee benefits, which can accelerate growth and enhance competitiveness.

First aid charity St John Ambulance has declared 2025 the year of holistic workplace health, warning that organisations must proactively address outdated approaches to first aid in the workplace to best protect their employees.

Manual payroll is taking a toll on HR teams, impacting both wellbeing and productivity. But are businesses underestimating its stress-inducing effects?

A successful startup is not only about creating an idea and bringing it to life with a good team. It may sound obvious, but it also requires very careful attention to legal aspects. With the growth of different technologies, legislation is becoming even more complex and diverse.

The CIPD is urging the UK Government to consult thoroughly with employers to ensure that proposed changes to employment law don’t negatively impact organisations or workers.

In recent months, allegations of sexual misconduct by high-profile figures have dominated the headlines in the UK. From the ongoing police investigation into historic claims of rape and sexual abuse against former Harrods owner, Mohamed Al-Fayed, to the litany of accusations of inappropriate behaviour against BBC Presenter Greg Wallace, it seems that some of the most powerful institutions in our country are still grappling with how to identify and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Over three-quarters (77%) of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surveyed plan to revamp their employee benefits packages to attract and retain top talent, address workforce challenges and tackle economic pressures, according to Employee Benefit Trends in UK SMEs, a new report from Howden Employee Benefits, in partnership with YouGov.

There has been a significant increase in the number of employers who report on the proportion of their staff with disabilities, according to research from GRiD. In 2023, only half (50%) of employers said that they collect information on the proportion of disabled people in their workforce, but this has risen to 71% in 2024, an increase of 21 percentage points on 2023.

Absence prevention and getting employees back to work are the key reasons companies with overseas employees offer health and wellbeing support, according to research by Towergate Employee Benefits.

Nearly half (46%) of IT and tech hiring managers planning to expand their teams with permanent, full-time employees, with technology hiring is expected to increase in 2025, according to recruitment firm Robert Half. Additionally, 25% aim to recruit contract talent for project-based needs and growth initiatives.

Nearly one in five (18%) employers leave employee benefits take-up to employees to initiate themselves instead of actively encouraging staff to use the benefits available to them, according to research from GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector. GRiD highlights the potential waste of time and resources in investing in benefits if utilisation is not encouraged.

AI-driven recruitment tools have transformed the way employers can discover new talent. But there’s a problem. Employers and candidates alike have sparked concerns about inherent bias contained in some tech-enabled recruitment systems.

New research has revealed a significant yet often overlooked source of stress for employers: manual payroll. For some, it’s causing ‘payroll paralysis’.

Research by Towergate Employee Benefits shows that over a quarter (26%) of employers are missing out by not benchmarking the benefits they offer to their workforce, in comparison to those offered by other companies. The research also reveals that just 40% of companies benchmark by sector, 37% by location, and only 30% by size of company.

Hiring your first employees marks a major milestone for any startup, reflecting your business’s growth. However, expanding your team requires a deeper understanding of HR processes and employment law to avoid common pitfalls. Sally Gwilliam, Employment Partner at Harper James talks you through the essential areas you need to know as your business grows including employment status, contracts, HR compliance, IP protection, and dealing with resignations.

A notable 41% of IT professionals are struggling to hire qualified candidates due to a ‘significant’ skills gap in the industry, with only 12% reportedly unaffected by this gap. That’s according to new data from SolarWinds, a provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software.

According to Towergate Employee Benefits’ research, over a third (37%) of companies with employees based outside of the UK stated that they do not offer enough health and wellbeing support and that this impacts their ability to recruit and retain people.

83% of professionals state they’ve experienced mental ill health at work in the past 12 months – with more than a quarter encountering it ‘regularly’.