Workforce
Retaining an engaged workforce
The growing popularity of share option schemes
The way media businesses think about employee reward is changing. In an increasingly competitive job market, employers are having to think outside the box to retain top talent. The benefits of retaining an engaged, motivated workforce are well understood: increased productivity, stronger loyalty, and a deeper sense of belonging.
On the other hand, losing a key team member can be costly, both in time and recruitment fees, and risks disrupting business continuity.
With that in mind, over the past few years, our survey results show a growing trend among media businesses to use share option schemes as a tool for both incentivising and retaining their employees. Last year, 34% of respondents stated they were offering a share option scheme to their employees, while 44% planned to implement one in the future. This year, that figure has surged. 95% of media businesses have either implemented a share option scheme or plan to do so in the future.
Does your business provide a share options scheme for employees?
The benefits of implementing share option schemes
Investing in share option schemes for employees can be highly beneficial for businesses. Firstly, when structured as qualifying EMI or CSOP options, they can offer a more favourable tax regime compared to traditional cash remuneration, which is subject to higher income tax rates and National Insurance contributions (NICs). Even with the increases in the rates of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) over the past year, the attraction of tax-advantaged share options is substantial.
What percentage of your workforce have share options?
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, share option schemes help align the interests of the employer and the employee by giving the employee a sense of ownership and vested interest in the company’s future and long-term success. They also reward loyalty by tying personal gain directly to the business’s growth and success over time.
While last year’s survey indicated that some media businesses were still cautious to roll out share option schemes more broadly across their teams, this year shows a shift. Companies seem more comfortable with the idea of offering them to a larger portion of their workforce. Though many are still being thoughtful in how they approach this, the trend suggests that businesses are beginning to see the value in extending these opportunities beyond just senior leadership, recognising the broader benefits for employee engagement and long-term company success.
However, as always, successful implementation depends on careful planning. To truly maximise the impact of share option schemes, companies need to ensure they’re not only aligned with their long-term goals but also adaptable to evolving tax and regulatory requirements. Properly structuring these schemes, with clear communication and a strong understanding of compliance, is key to making them a sustainable and effective tool for both employee retention and company growth.
Simon Adams
Partner
The increases in CGT over the last year have led some to question whether employee share options will continue to carry the same attraction to businesses as they have in the past. Media business have long appreciated the benefits of offering share options as a way of ensuring an engaged and incentivised team—critical for recruitment and retention in a challenging job market.
The growing willingness of businesses to offer options on a far wider basis, to a larger proportion of the workforce than they might have done in the past, aligns with the trend of more businesses being owned by Employee Ownership Trusts. It seems clear that the discussions accompanying these changes are increasing the willingness of businesses to adopt a broader range of incentivisation offerings. Fewer businesses now view share options as the sole preserve of top executives.
Building the right team
Redundancies down, but employers still under pressure
It’s been notoriously difficult for media businesses to build the right workforce in recent years. The industry has faced a near-constant cycle of layoffs, hiring freezes, and organisational restructuring, all set against a backdrop of rapid digital transformation and shifting audience habits.
Our survey shows that redundancies among media businesses have fallen somewhat this year from an average of 19% in 2024 to 13% in 2025. Having said that, employers are still being forced to make difficult decisions, with only 1% of respondents not making any redundancies in the past 12 months.
Indeed, layoffs in the industry are still rife, with conglomerates like Disney, NBC and CNN all announcing job cuts since the start of the year. In another blow to the gaming sector, Warner Bros. Discovery shut three of its video game studios in February, leaving hundreds of employees without jobs.
How many of your total staff have been made redundant over the last 12 months
In what was already a volatile economic landscape, the 2024 Autumn Budget made the outlook even more uncertain. The announcements made by Chancellor Reeves, including increases to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and Employers' National Insurance contributions (NICs), have put further strain on media businesses, with 60% of our survey respondents stating that these changes will impact their operations.
To what extent will the increases to NMW and NIC impact your business?
The increases to the NMW and Employers’ NICs are a major setback for both retaining and attracting talent. Many of our survey respondents have stated that they will resort to making redundancies and freezing recruitment to manage these added costs.
Moving forward, businesses will need to adapt their strategies to remain competitive and safeguard talent, potentially finding new ways to balance cost management with retaining a skilled workforce.
How you are proposing to cover the increased costs of NMW
Recruitment remains a struggle
The creative industries will have been encouraged to see their rapid growth highlighted in the government’s industrial strategy. However, the infrastructure to educate and equip workers with the necessary digital skills has lagged behind.
How challenging has it been for you to recruit new staff for your business over the last 12 months?
As technology, including AI, continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, many workers are struggling to keep up, leaving businesses with a growing digital skills gap.
This gap is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to keep up with the demands of the modern media landscape. Combined with ongoing economic uncertainty, it’s a tough environment for employers trying to hire and build high-performing teams.
Our survey underscores these challenges: 83% of media businesses reported that recruiting new staff has been somewhat or extremely difficult over the past 12 months, up from 60% the previous year.
With recruitment becoming increasingly difficult, media businesses are clearly rethinking how they build their teams. Our survey shows a noticeable shift in approach: 78% of respondents plan to bring in off-payroll workers over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, 44% say they’ll recruit new staff.
This trend reflects the growing need for flexibility. Faced with rising costs, regulatory changes, and ongoing skills shortages, many companies are choosing to scale their teams in a more agile way, bringing in the right expertise when they need it, without the long-term commitment of full-time hires.
Chris Gore
Tax Director
With recruitment challenges in the media industry continuing from last year, it's worth noting that many businesses had already been looking to engage overseas talent to help address the UK’s skills gap. With 78% of respondents planning to engage off-payroll workers, businesses need to be aware of the potential risks and reporting obligations that come with hiring talent from overseas.
Freelancers and consultants offer access to highly specialised skills, especially in areas like digital, AI, and data, where demand is high but supply is limited. For media businesses under pressure to adapt quickly, this kind of talent model can be a lifeline.
But it’s not without its challenges and risks. As HMRC enforces tax and National Insurance rules around off-payroll working (such as IR35), and as competition for top freelance talent intensifies, companies must develop robust strategies for sourcing, integrating and retaining flexible workers while being compliant from a tax and legal perspective. Those that take a more strategic approach, blending core teams with trusted external talent, while taking the correct actions to manage tax and legal risks, are likely to come out ahead in the longer term.
of those asked said they will use off-payroll workers over the next 12 months
Lee Knight
Tax Director
With the broadcaster ITV recently announcing that it has set aside £61m for potential tax liabilities related to its freelance workers, it’s clear that tax risks can be significant. The tax rules are complex, continually evolving and the associated risks and obligations vary depending on how and by whom an off-payroll worker is engaged.
It’s key that businesses understand their obligations and implement appropriate internal training, policies and procedures to manage these risks. This may not be straightforward and requires careful consideration, time and resources.