Employment Index.
The monthly pulse of UK small and medium businesses. Employment, wages, and hours are drawn from 158k employees across 4.7k businesses on the Employment Hero platform, with sentiment, AI adoption and investment measures from our quarterly survey of business leaders conducted in partnership with GWI.
SME health check
The three vital signs of UK SME health: employment, wages and hours worked. Tracked monthly.
Employment growth
A key indicator of SME health is whether there is expansion or contraction. Tracks the average change in headcount across UK businesses on the Employment Hero platform.
Each point is the average month-on-month change in headcount across UK businesses on the Employment Hero platform. The 3M figure reflects the % change in the latest month vs. 3 months prior.
Wage growth
Tracking the value of labour in the marketplace.
Median annual salary
Annual salary is a median calculation across all employees on the Employment Hero platform, representing a total rate inclusive of base salary, bonuses and commissions.
Hours worked
An essential signal of business activity and labour demand, split by employment type. Full-time hours tend to be steady; part-time and casual hours are where the variance lives.
Both figures are the average per employee, per month.
AI pulse check
How AI is showing up across UK SMEs, what businesses are doing with AI inside the business, and where they are putting investment.
Quarterly read
AI adoption
Share of UK SMEs actively using AI tools across at least one business function. Drawn from continuous survey with SME leaders.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Quarterly read
AI investment
Percentage of SMEs increasing their investment into AI infrastructure, tooling and training this quarter. Drawn from continuous survey with SME leaders.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Business pressure
The mood of the market: how much pressure SMEs are under, how they feel about the next 12 months and where they are putting their money and people.
Business pressure
Share of SMEs reporting high or critical operating pressure across cashflow, hiring, compliance, employee retention and productivity.
Current reading
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Business sentiment
How SMEs feel about the next 12 months overall.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Financial outlook
How SMEs expect their financial trajectory to go over the next 12 months.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Hiring intent
How SMEs are considering workforce planning over the next 12 months.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Survey measures come from a continuous survey of UK SME leaders run with GWI. Quarterly readings show no change figure until a second reading exists.
