The UK Employment Outlook 2026: Confidence, Capability, and a Clear Growth Mandate

2025 tested business leaders everywhere. Costs have climbed. AI adoption has accelerated. Global policy shifts have introduced new variables.

And yet, one region stands out for its confidence and its willingness to make bold bets on the future.

According to BambooHR’s international survey of 780 senior decision-makers across the United States, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Canada, and Australia, the UK leads in optimism, expansion readiness, and appetite for international hiring.

Notably, across all regions surveyed, companies that already hire internationally are more than twice as likely to be confident in their ability to expand globally (51% vs. 26%). They’re also twice as likely to be in aggressive investment mode (8% vs. 4%) and more likely to report plans to increase both domestic and international headcount.

International hiring is more than a growth tactic. It’s also a signal of operational readiness and leadership confidence. It reflects systems that scale, compliance that’s under control, and onboarding processes that can stretch across borders without breaking.

Read on to see how the UK compares to other regions, and what’s driving the optimism.

Key takeaways

• 84% of UK leaders are optimistic about next year’s growth, the highest rate among surveyed countries.
• Recent data shows 44% of business leaders feel more optimistic than 12 months ago, signaling strong upward momentum.
• 40% of organizations report high confidence in their global expansion abilities, significantly outpacing their peer markets.
• Internal enthusiasm for international hiring remains high, with 38% of leadership teams prioritizing global growth to drive revenue.

In the UK, optimism about international hiring continues to soar

When asked about their company’s growth prospects over the next year, 84% of UK respondents said they feel somewhat or very optimistic. That’s higher than Australia (80%), the US (79%), and Canada (68%).

The UK's confidence track record is even more telling. When asked how their optimism changed compared to 12 months ago, the UK's combined “Much more optimistic” and “Slightly more optimistic” responses show a clear lead over other regions:

• UK: 70%
• US: 66%
• Australia: 64%
• Canada: 53%

At the same time, only 19% of UK respondents cite global economic uncertainty as a major influence on their outlook on their company’s growth prospects over the next year—the lowest among the four regions—further indicating the UK’s confidence in the strength of the UK economic outlook and their ability to navigate the global market.

The UK shows high confidence in global expansion

Optimism is powerful, but confidence in execution drives action. And the UK leads decisively here, reinforcing the view that UK organizations see expansion as an accessible goal.

Two in five (40%) UK respondents say they are very confident in their company’s ability to expand globally, significantly higher than Australia (18%), Canada (23%), and the US (23%).

That confidence is apparent in UK leaders' business approach:

• 14% of UK companies report being in aggressive growth mode, nearly double the rate in the US and Canada.
• Fewer UK organizations describe themselves as defensive compared to North American peers.

The pattern mirrors the broader data: Organizations that build international hiring capability build expansion confidence alongside it.

For HR leaders looking to strengthen that capability, deciding between global employment models is often the first step. Understanding the tradeoffs between handling all your global expansion needs internally or going with a third-party employer of record.

UK leaders are “enthusiastic” and “proactive” about international hiring

If international hiring is a confidence signal, UK leadership is sending a clear message that they’re ready to scale globally.

More than a third (38%) of UK leaders describe themselves as enthusiastic and proactive about international hiring, the highest among all regions surveyed. At the same time, only 2% are opposed or resistant (vs. 8% in the US), and just 5% say they are not open to international hiring at all, compared to 17% in the US.

Globally, nearly half (49%) of leadership teams describe themselves as open but cautious. In the UK, enthusiasm outpaces hesitation.

For teams expanding across borders for the first time, having a practical roadmap matters. A structured approach to compliance, contracts, and onboarding reduces risk and builds internal confidence.

Revenue growth is the UK's primary motivation for international expansion

Expansion in the UK is tied directly to revenue ambition.

When asked what pressure drives international growth, 40% of UK leaders cite the need to grow revenue, the highest of any region surveyed and nearly double Canada’s 21%. This focus on top-line growth positions international strategy as a core business accelerator.

UK leaders also point to other critical factors driving their global push:

• Opportunities in new or emerging markets (46%)
• Adoption of AI or new technologies (46%)
• Availability of skilled talent (41%)

With the EU Pay Transparency Directive soon to reshape compensation expectations across Europe, expansion strategy must also account for regulatory shifts that affect pay practices and reporting requirements.

Revenue growth, technology investment, and global talent access are working together, but compliance remains foundational.

The UK is investing in technology and research & development

Another way in which the UK is demonstrating its confidence is through investing in the tools that power growth.

Compared to peers, UK organizations are the most likely to increase spending on:

• Technology and software subscriptions (53%)
• Research and development (45%)

UK businesses are also the most likely to increase investment in HR technology, with 42% saying they are slightly more likely to purchase or switch to a new HR software provider compared to last year.

As hybrid and remote models stretch across borders, compliance complexity increases alongside opportunity. HR leaders must balance flexibility with regulatory precision, particularly when managing employees in multiple jurisdictions.

When technology supports visibility, documentation, and reporting, expansion becomes sustainable as opposed to reactive.

Labor costs are the UK’s sharpest pressure

While the UK reports the lowest general inflation impact (55%) among the four regions, it faces the highest labor cost pressure, with 22% citing wages and benefits as their largest cost increase.

For comparison, that's twice as high as the US (11%) or Canada (12%).

People remain the biggest investment, and the biggest cost.

That makes hiring model decisions even more important. This pressure is a direct result of the highly competitive UK job market, where a strong UK employment rate and a low unemployment rate in the UK are driving up the cost of securing skilled talent.

AI is both a growth and anxiety engine

AI adoption is one of the top contributors to global optimism—but it's also the top factor keeping UK leaders up at night (18%), more than any other region.

Leaders see AI as a revenue enabler and competitive differentiator. They also recognize the need for governance, upskilling, and thoughtful implementation.

In high-growth environments, AI multiplies both opportunity and complexity. HR leaders can anchor that change, aligning workforce strategy with innovation strategy.

Preparedness turns optimism into growth

The UK enters 2026 with the strongest blend of optimism, confidence, and proactive leadership among its international peers.

Leaders are eager to hire globally. They’re investing in technology and R&D. They’re feeling pressure to grow revenue and building toward it.

The broader lesson is clear: International hiring is not simply a response to growth. It’s evidence of readiness for it.

For HR leaders, that insight is actionable. When hiring strategy, onboarding systems, and technology investments align with expansion goals, confidence becomes capability—and capability drives sustainable growth.

Methodology

This report is based on a global survey conducted in partnership with Qualtrics in 2025, targeting 780 decision-makers and senior professionals involved in HR, payroll, finance, and business operations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Canada, and Australia.