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Before you advertise

Hiring and automation

A job advert is a decision to buy a year of someone's week. These pages break each role into what it costs, what the week is actually spent on, and which parts of it run to a fixed pattern.

Every figure below is the UK median for that occupation from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, plus employer National Insurance at 15 per cent above £5,000 and the minimum workplace pension. It is the cost before recruitment, equipment, software or cover, and it assumes a working year of 46.4 weeks once statutory holiday is taken off.

The last column is our own reading of the role: how many of the jobs we list for it run to a fixed pattern. It is a starting point for a conversation, not a measurement of your business. What your version of the role looks like is what the free audit counts.

Role Median salary Cost to employ Jobs that run to a pattern
Accounts assistant £28,996 £33,278 9 of 12
Accounts payable clerk £28,996 £33,278 8 of 12
Bookings coordinator £28,294 £32,450 7 of 12
Bookkeeper £31,560 £36,304 6 of 12
Care coordinator £28,294 £32,450 4 of 12
Credit controller £28,532 £32,731 5 of 12
Customer service advisor £27,848 £31,923 6 of 12
Data entry clerk £28,316 £32,476 10 of 12
HR administrator £26,851 £30,747 8 of 12
Legal secretary £26,968 £30,885 8 of 12
Lettings administrator £28,294 £32,450 9 of 12
Medical receptionist £24,678 £28,183 7 of 12
Office administrator £28,294 £32,450 9 of 12
Office manager £38,630 £44,646 5 of 12
Payroll administrator £31,560 £36,304 7 of 12
Practice manager £42,559 £49,282 3 of 12
Property manager £43,365 £50,234 2 of 12
Purchasing administrator £37,306 £43,084 8 of 12
Receptionist £24,678 £28,183 8 of 12
Sales administrator £28,745 £32,982 9 of 12
School office administrator £26,463 £30,289 7 of 12
Service coordinator £28,294 £32,450 7 of 12
Transport administrator £33,508 £38,602 9 of 12
Transport planner £33,508 £38,602 4 of 12
Warehouse administrator £29,991 £34,452 10 of 12

Where these numbers come from

  1. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a Annual pay gross, occupation by four-digit SOC 2020 , read 19 September 2026 . Median gross annual pay, full time employees, by four digit SOC 2020
  2. GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 , read 19 September 2026
  3. GOV.UK, Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay , read 19 September 2026

Last checked 19 September 2026.

Our workings are on the methodology page .

Before you hire

See what the job would spend its week on

Hiring is the right answer for plenty of the work. The audit separates the part that needs a person from the part that runs on rules, so whoever you hire spends their time on the first kind.