Salary satisfaction in 2025: Insights from Finance, Tech, Transformation and Legal professionals

Salary remains one of the most influential factors in any career decision. In 2025, though, salary satisfaction doesn’t just come down to numbers on a payslip. Across finance, legal, and tech sectors, professionals are weighing their compensation against rising living costs, increased workloads and evolving expectations. As the landscape shifts, so do attitudes toward pay. 

At Marks Sattin, we’ve seen this change firsthand. With over 30 years of recruitment experience, we’ve witnessed how even subtle changes in salary satisfaction can set the tone for recruitment across sectors. This year, our latest market insight and salary guide, based on insights from over 1,800 professionals, reveals exactly how satisfied (or dissatisfied) the workforce is with their pay. 

Here, we’ll dig into the data behind salary satisfaction in 2025, exploring how sentiment differs across finance, tech, and legal roles. Whether you’re hiring your next CFO or benchmarking tech job salaries, these insights will help hiring managers align compensation with what professionals truly want in 2025. 

Why salary satisfaction matters more than ever

A lack of salary satisfaction is often the first signal that something needs to change. In 2025, that signal is flashing for a significant portion of the workforce. Our market report and salary guide shows that just over half of professionals feel satisfied with their current pay. Of course, this also means nearly half of professionals are experiencing salary dissatisfaction. 

For hiring managers, this points to more than just benchmarking gaps. The insights of our report highlight the need for proactive pay conversations, especially as salary dissatisfaction is the second most common reason for leaving a role, just behind career development. In the long run, it pays to keep up with 2025 salary trends. 

Our report breaks salary expectations in 2025 down by sector. Here’s some of the highlights:

• Finance job salaries: 49% of professionals are dissatisfied with their current pay
• Legal job salaries: 68% report being satisfied, the highest level across all sectors
• Private-equity backed firms: Salary satisfaction is split evenly at 50/50

Finance salaries: How pay bands impact salary satisfaction

While finance salaries in the UK have grown significantly in recent years, the level of satisfaction veers depending on pay band. While high earners tend to feel fairly paid, those at the junior and mid-levels are less convinced. Keeping those at the lower end of the pay ecosystem happy is always a challenge. However, this UK finance salary trend is leading to attrition. 

Our report found that nearly 4 in 10 finance professionals are planning to leave their role within the next year, and salary is a major reason behind this. If your team includes early-career professionals, this is your moment to act. Reviewing finance salaries and introducing a structured review process could make all the difference. 

Here’s how salary satisfaction in finance looks in 2025, per our UK salary guide. 

• Professionals earning over £90,000 report the highest satisfaction at 72%
• In contrast, those earning below £60,000 are far more likely to feel underpaid, with 55% report salary dissatisfaction
• Part-qualified and newly qualified accountants are among the most affected, particularly outside London

For more UK finance trends and insights, download our latest salary guide and market report today.

Tech salary satisfaction trends in 2025

Satisfaction with tech salaries is higher than some of the other sectors we’ve surveyed, but there are still plenty of professionals who aren’t happy with their pay. The technology sector is known for competitive salaries and day rates, but our research shows satisfaction doesn’t always correlate with compensation, especially for contractors. 

According to our researching into technology salaries:

• 64% of tech professionals are satisfied with their salary, leaving a third feeling disillusioned 
• Among contractors earning less than £1,200 per day, satisfaction significantly drops off 
• Permanent tech salaries of over £100k see the most satisfaction

Tech contractors are not feeling the love. Many report being brought in to manage large-scale projects with minimal integration into the wider business and high expectations. This means tech day rates can start to feel transactional. Salary satisfaction in tech boils down to how pay is related to contribution and culture, and contractors want to feel valued too. 

UK legal job salary satisfaction

At first glance, legal salary trends paint a pretty picture. With 68% of legal professionals reporting they’re happy with their pay, it tops the rankings across these three industries. Beneath the surface, though, it’s a bit more complex.

While legal salaries tend to be high, pay alone isn’t keeping people in place. Nearly a third of legal respondents told us they’re planning to move jobs within the next year. That’s a striking figure that goes against the high satisfaction figure. 

What’s driving legal professionals to look elsewhere? Here’s what we found they’re really looking for:

• Leadership that gives a sense of direction and purpose from the top
• Faster career progression, especially for mid-level legal counsel looking to climb the ladder
• Better balance and wellbeing, including hybrid flexibility and mental health support
• In-house opportunities are a growing trend as lawyers seek more integrated business roles

How to improve salary satisfaction in 2025

If you’re hiring in finance, tech, or legal in 2025, salary satisfaction needs to be a part of your strategy. Salary alone doesn’t create loyalty, but feeling fairly rewarded does. At Marks Sattin, partnering with our expert team will give you the insights needed to build offers that speak to what candidates truly value. 

Based on the latest data, here are five smart moves to make when addressing salary dissatisfaction

• Benchmark your salaries using up-to-date data from reputable sources
• Tailor salary bands by seniority, location and job function
• Formalise pay reviews and communicate the process clearly
• Highlight your full reward package, including flexibility, learning and wellbeing
• Listen to your employees to get insight into where gaps exist

Get the full UK finance trends picture

At Marks Sattin, we support businesses to get salary satisfaction right. Whether you’re in finance, tech, or legal, our consultants can help you benchmark roles, shape benefits, and craft offers that land. 

To get more role-specific salary trend insights, download our finance salary guide, technology salary guide or explore our market guides. If you’re ready to take your recruitment to the next level, submit a brief to get started today.