Navigating the NI Hike: How will the increase impact temporary workers in events and awards?
With changes to National Insurance contributions fast approaching, what does it mean for your hiring strategy, budgeting, and workforce planning?
Andrea Pell, Director at Handle, shares her insights on the impact of the NI hike on the live events and awards industries and how it’ll impact the temporary workforce. Firstly, let’s break it down.
What’s changing – and when?
From 6th April 2025, Employer National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%. At the same time, the threshold for NI payments is dropping from £9,100 to £5,000. There is no escaping that it means that employers will contribute more per worker.
This is a UK-wide change designed to support long-term economic growth, and while it may sound alarming, it’s not a seismic shift.
The reality?
Yes, there’s a slight increase in payroll costs, but within the world of temporary recruitment, we have experienced ever-evolving alterations to rates. These are always created to improve growth, encourage fair working conditions, and ultimately work towards the greater good of the economy.
For example, over the years, holiday pay has increased, and AWR regulations and pension contributions have also been introduced. These changes have all impacted clients' bottom lines when hiring temporary workers, but they quickly became the norm, with the overall benefits outweighing the initial increase of the rate hike.
Much like these previous adjustments, the upcoming NI hike will have an initial impact but hopefully will create confidence across various markets following economic success.
What this means for your business
Over the last six months or so, we’ve had extensive conversations with our current client base where our clients have utilised volume temporary staff in the lead up to event projects:
While no one is my network is thrilled about increased employer costs, they expect the impact on their hiring plans to be minimal.
Preparation is key to staying ahead of the curve and avoiding budget gaps, which can be supported by collaboration with internal teams or agencies for clear cost insights. For businesses relying on temporary workers for events or short-term projects, this uplift is factored into budgets as an additional cost, ensuring pay rates are maintained, particularly for in-demand or specialist roles.
But if your budget has no room to stretch and you're unsure how to stay competitive, I'd be happy to review your hiring plans and see if there is a different strategy that could work for you to navigate around it.
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About Andrea
With over 14 years supporting the live events, awards and wider creative industries Andrea helps industry leaders find their next role, build out temporary teams, and hire amazing people.
So, if you're actively reassessing budgets for your temporary workforce, looking to build an interim team, or exploring new opportunities, feel free to connect with Andrea for guidance and insights.
Share your insights
We’re keen to hear about your current experiences and industry insights with the upcoming NI hike and would love to hear from our client base about the conversations around preparations being made. Get in touch to let us know!
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About Handle Recruitment
We opened the doors in 1978 and built our reputation in the music industry. We quickly realised that a great brand is not always a household name. A great brand is something people connect with, not just a place they work. Somewhere that helps them become better at what they do. It could be a record label, it could be in media, it could be a tech start-up.
Supporting Great People in Marketing | Finance | HR | Office Support | Sales | Legal | Event Operations | Post-Production.
The Talent Solutions we provide, Permanent, Temporary and Interim Recruitment | People Consultancy | Outsourced Freelancer Payroll & Compliance.
The Industries we support: Music | Film | TV | Entertainment | Fashion | Live Events | Sport | Publishing | Post-production.