Our 2026 guide has just been released, bringing together salary benchmarks, contract rates and hiring insights from across the market, based on the conversations we’re having every day with clients, candidates and contractors across the Private Sector, Education, and Public Sector & Defence. 

It’s clear that hiring priorities have continued to shift over the past 12 months. 

We’re seeing contract hiring continue to dominate, with organisations increasingly bringing in specialist resource to deliver transformation projects, platform implementations and change programmes. In some areas of the market, contract placements now account for almost 90% of the placements we’re making. 

We’re also seeing learning teams become much more closely connected to wider business change. Skills such as product management, business analysis, stakeholder engagement and technology adoption are increasingly being sought alongside more traditional learning and development expertise. 

AI remains firmly on the agenda. While dedicated AI roles are still relatively new, we’ve started to see organisations hiring AI Adoption Consultants to help identify opportunities, support adoption and build capability across their workforce. 

If you’re reviewing salaries, setting contractor budgets or planning future hires, our 2026 guide provides an invaluable snapshot of the current market. 

To request a copy, get in touch with the Instinct team today. 

As the staffing demand in our sector slowed during 2023, it became apparent that many companies are moving away from pure remote-based working employment, to shift to either hybrid models or back to traditional fully office-based working.

Online research shows that organisations such as Boots, Laing O’Rourke, and Rockstar plan on making their employees come to the office five days a week, showing a bigger shift in how companies think about work. A KPMG survey even found that 64% of CEOs around the world think everyone will be back in the office by 2026.

What employees think about it

According to HRD Connect, there has been a mixed reaction to the return to the office movement. A Marco New Customer Report for 2024 shows that 40% of global respondents actually prefer traditional in-office working, and in the UK, 40% of workers prefer full-time in-person work.

There is also a generational shift as the same report shows that younger generations prefer having in-office experiences, with 64% willing to work for a company that doesn’t offer hybrid working options at all.

Here at Instinct, we have certainly seen an ‘expectancy’ from candidates to be given at least 1-2 days per week working from home, in both contract and permanent positions. Pre-covid, this was almost unheard of, with the majority of roles we worked on demanding a minimum of 3-5 days per week on-site.

The shift towards in-person work is being advocated by some who argue that face-to-face interactions may foster creativity, enhance collaboration, and strengthen company culture in ways that are difficult to replicate remotely. Admittedly however with Instinct working in the Digital and Learning Technology space, the majority of work (depending on the role itself) can be completed digitally from home.

2020 brought an abrupt halt to the staff retention trends of the previous decade, where office culture was paramount – we saw the addition of break-out areas, pool tables, table tennis, bars, shower rooms, personal lockers, solo working spaces and even sleeping pods.

Post-2020, office culture has been somewhat forgotten due to the remote working model. Organisations have allowed employees to work autonomously in their home office (back bedroom, kitchen table or even sitting on their bed) without any face-to-face peer contact.

Subsequently, competitors have been able to poach / approach and lure candidates with the incentive of more money. Where this method alone may have been ineffective in the past, as an employee enjoyed the company culture, in the absence of this, they can be more easily tempted by pure monetary incentives.

Finally, from a candidate perspective, after a few years of post-pandemic remote working, we have noticed an increase in enquiries from candidates looking to find work in a collaborative setting, where in-person relationships are formed, and peer-to-peer learning is facilitated.

Conclusion

It is clear that organisations are heading back towards an increased on-site working demand, however, the impact of COVID and working from home will still be in place for many years to come. We seem to be in a position where hybrid working has become the ‘norm’, with companies looking for 2-3 days per week on-site as an average.

It is understandable that many Digital Learning / Learning Technology specialists believe the majority of their work can be done from home, but at what cost? Does this impact SME and Stakeholder engagement? Does this have a negative impact on collaborative working and fresh ideas from others? Or do you simply work better alone? Granted it’s subjective to the individual, but only time will tell.

It will certainly be interesting to see the on-site / working-from-home split in years to come!

UNICEF notes that “blending online learning with face-to-face teaching generally produces better outcomes than face-to-face or online learning alone”, it was described to also engage students on an emotional level, positively impacting students’ attitudes, enjoyment and interests towards the learning which increased participation and completion rates.

But, why is this?

Some believe that learners have the flexibility to learn when suits them, enabling them to tune into their natural cycles when they feel they can retain information rather than being forced into learning when they may be otherwise occupied, others note that the interactivity and creativity of online learning enhances the student experience and provides something different which students embrace. “When properly designed, delivered and evaluated, online learning initiatives based on a solid digital learning strategy can change a company’s corporate culture, improve employee engagement and increase retention” (CCL, 2020).

With professional development, time is of the essence, particularly for corporate organisations where they will see staff away from their work for periods of time to complete learning programmes. The CIPD (2017) outlines that digital learning requires less time for learning, with 40-60% less ‘time to learn’ than traditional classroom learning. This was then coupled with digital learning resulting in a higher retention rate, the Research Institute of America (2020) outlined retention rates from digital learning to be between 25 and 60%, rather than traditional classroom learning peaking at 10%. With these statistics, it seems to be a no-brainer to include digital and blended learning in the learning and development strategy.

Some would argue that the digital element would be a considerable investment, and the upfront costs into the unknown just aren’t worth the risk. However, with the lost working time, retention and cost of face-to-face training to consider, the digital learning element would (in time) pay for itself. The resources can be used time and time again for other learners, the higher retention rates mean that organisations wouldn’t have to continually re-train their employees. The US Navy implemented VR training combined with immersive learning, initially investing $1.28 million. Closely tracked, they calculated a whopping $4.24 million in avoided costs and an ROI of $2.96 million (Beck, in CIPD, 2021). Not all organisations can splash out $1.28 million on a new immersive learning programme, but it demonstrates that the ROI can be incredible if an organisation is willing to take the plunge.

To conclude, with a huge increase in retention of learning, a reduction of ‘time to learn’ for employees thus enabling them to return to work and an impressive track record of ROI, it seems digital and blended learning is only securing itself a place in becoming part of the ‘norm’ for a learning strategy, rather than being viewed as a fancy and frivolous piece of technology.

UNI CEF (2021). https://www.unicef.org/media/103246/file/Effectiveness%20of%20digital%20learning%20solutions%20to%20improve%20educational%20outcomes%20-%20A%20review%20of%20the%20evidence.pdf

CCL (2020). How Technology in Education Improves Student Engagement | ACC Blog

CIPD (2021). Digital learning in a post-COVID-19 economy: a literature review (cipd.org)

Research Institute of America – WeForum (2020). The rise of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

 In 2021, I conducted a very official survey via LinkedIn, asking professionals within my network how they got in digital learning. The results looked like this:

–            38% came from L&D

–            30% came from a teaching background

–            16% came from a graphic or multimedia background

–            15% voted ‘other’

With a huge shift into digital learning and a big movement of people into the sector, I wondered if the entry into the space had changed, and it turns out, it has. This year, 2024, after another very official survey, the statistics looked slightly different:

–            30% came from L&D

–            52% came from a teaching background

–            15% came from graphics or multimedia background

–            3% came from an official channel or qualification

“Other” routes were noted in the comments, usually people having fallen into the sector over their careers without being able to officially pinpoint exactly what it happened.

A huge shift is the amount of teachers who have moved into the sector, those with pedagogical knowledge that have sought a career change into the digital and blended learning space. It seems to be a popular route as these professionals have moved into Instructional or Learning Design opportunities, writing the content for educational modules and material.

With only 3% voting that they took part in an official qualification to get into the sector, it seems that this generation of digital learning professionals still seem to fall into the sector, however, as this wasn’t an option in the 2021 poll, it cannot be confirmed if this has changed.

What has changed is the official qualification in the form of an apprenticeship. Since 2021, I have personally been part of a Trailblazer group to put together an apprenticeship which has been released, a Level 5 Digital Learning Designer (Digital learning designer (level 5) – apprenticeship training course (education.gov.uk)). This has been an interesting journey, with the first cohort of students officially started, it will be incredible to see the growth of the industry and the expertise developed through the use of official channels.

As Instinct is a specialist digital learning recruitment firm, it has been a delight to officially be part of the development and completion of the apprenticeship and gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of the area and skillsets.

My question will be, what other official forms will develop to move into the digital learning space, and how will new technologies impact the jobs available, and jobs created across the sector?

Instinct specialises in digital learning recruitment, if you’re looking for your next digital learning hire then get in touch!

What is it?

The UK government introduced the EOT scheme in 2014. It allowed businesses to become owned by employees by way of a trust.  EOTs have a majority stake in the business and legally must benefit all employees on an equal basis. As a minimum a company must transfer 51% of its shares to a trust.  

Instinct made the decision to transfer 100% of the shares to the trust.

The most notable company which operate as an EOT is the John Lewis Partnership.  However, there are currently 1418 companies in the UK that are employee owned.

Why?

Instinct’s EOT was implemented to ensure that all employees are involved and motivated through collective ownership.  Placing employees at the heart of Instinct is the perfect solution to continue our journey. 

Furthermore the EOT offers a fantastic opportunity for ambitious leaders to build upon the success of the business and impact future growth.

It allows Instinct to have a “business as usual approach” with the added employee incentives and security through involvement. 

What does it mean for Instinct?

The EOT structure reflects our collaborative environment and solidifies our commitment to a truly inclusive company culture.  

Transitioning to employee ownership via an EOT provides the opportunity to plan for the succession of the business.  The core values of the business remain unchanged and our employees who helped build them will be the ultimate beneficiaries.

Ultimately, our clients, candidates and contractors benefit from working with a team that is fully motivated and empowered.

We are only just getting started however the initial signs are really positive.  We are convinced this was the right route for Instinct and all of our employees.