THE average advertised annual salary has topped £40,000 for the first time, new research suggests.

The increase from £37,577 over the past year follows continuing demand for skilled staff and hesitancy among employers around hiring, according to jobs site Adzuna.

Its study, however, added that just over half of employers did not include pay details in job adverts, adding that 2024 was also the worst year on record for salary transparency.

The research found there are two jobseekers for every vacancy, while the time taken to fill jobs has increased by almost two days to 34 over the past year.

Jobs in the legal profession had the shortest time to fill at 31 days, while the longest were in domestic help and cleaning at 38 and healthcare and nursing at 37.

Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said that last month’s fall in vacancies could also be attributed to the seasonal hiring slowing down over the Christmas period.