How to Build Long-Term Job Security for Your New Hires
Do you think your employees would say that they have strong job security? Even if it is an unfounded feeling and there are no job cuts planned, a lack of job security can impact productivity, engagement and even loyalty to your company.
Unfortunately, some reports suggest that there have been more layoffs so far this year than for all of 2026. And 30% of employees worldwide are reporting a lack of job security.
That’s according to our 2026 Workplace Trends Report, which found that for the UK, this figure was 22%, the lowest of all of the regions we surveyed – lower than Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan and Singapore.
Thankfully, this trend poses an important opportunity for UK employers. Not only is there more top talent in the market open to joining your business, but hiring can be the perfect opportunity to build long-term careers for your new employees with the job security they are currently seeking.
Here, Richard Speight, Associate Director of Accounting & Finance at Morgan McKinley, shares how to turn the lack of job security your next new hire may be experiencing into a high-impact, long-term career at your business instead.
Read below for what you can do right now as a UK employer to ensure your new hires can feel a strong sense of job security from day one:
1. Reframe Job Security to an Employer Issue
Unfortunately, many UK employees at the minute feel it would not serve their careers long-term to stay in their organisations, explains Richard: "There is definitely a perception that staying in their current role won’t give them the security, pay or progression they are looking for."
But in his experience, it’s not that employees are keen to move, it’s that they feel they have to, so employers should start to address this openly: "Arguably employers are facing more of a confidence challenge rather than a retention issue, so it is vital that they can provide reassurances around growth, career progression, pay and the impact of AI to employees."
2. Stress-Test Roles for 36 Months Out
Every time you hire, you need to consider a role’s long-term value, says Richard: "Businesses need to give consideration to the business requirement rather than the individual they may want to hire, in particular what problem the role will solve short-term, but also 12, 24 and 36 months down the line."
To do this, you need to think in terms of workforce planning, rather than simply solving a need: "At the approval stage, stress-testing the role is crucial - will you still need the role in 3 years? Rather than thinking about who they need to hire, businesses should consider workforce design rather than just vacancy filling."
3. Bake Progression into Role Design
Once you’ve evaluated if the need for that role will still exist several years down the line, you’ll want to consider the career path it will offer your new hire along with what that will cost, says Richard: "Building progression into a role at the design stage and budgeting for it will ensure long-term viability of a role."
One of the biggest mistakes is to not consider where this role will potentially take your new hire until they seek that next move, explains Richard: "When companies are hiring and thinking about long-term career paths, again this should be an important part of the role design rather than a discussion after someone has joined."
4. Ditch "Culture Fit" and Hire for Adaptability
Another mistake Richard sees is to focus too much on cultural fit rather than being aligned on what this progression looks like. He advises: "Be open and honest about how you see the role developing, and look for alignment rather than 'cultural fit'. Assess a potential employee's ability to respond to change, rather than how they have performed the same role previously..."
It’s not necessarily about assessing ‘loyalty’ to your company, it’s about being on the same page with their career, shares Richard: “Don’t try to predict whether they will stay with your organisation, work out whether their future aspirations match the future your organisation is going to offer."
5. Don’t Hire Just to Fix Short-Term Problems
Businesses regularly rush into hiring to solve a particular problem without clearly defining what success looks like, says Richard. And this can lead to a lack of job security down the line: “A frequent mistake is hiring for a permanent role for what is often actually a short-term, interim requirement."
Similarly, hiring should result from current rather than expected demand: "It’s important for businesses not to hire because they anticipate growth, but because the current demand supports it. If the anticipated growth doesn’t materialise, it is usually those in newly created roles who are first out."
6. Provide Proof of Job Security in Company
In order to enable your new hires to build value that will ultimately translate into job security, Richard advises to communicate clearly about what your business will expect from this role well beyond probation: "Being transparent about the longer-term expectations of the role, rather than just the probationary period expectations."
Richard advises that it’s also worthwhile discussing upfront with candidates how the business is currently creating job security for all roles: "Providing evidence of stability such as long-term contracts, investment commitments, retention rates and expansion plans can be particularly reassuring."
7. Candidates Should Ask About Growth
On the other side of hiring, Richard advises candidates to ask the questions that will help them assess job security: "Often the questions you ask as much as the questions you answer can be absolutely integral to your success in the process."
For example, he suggests: "Ask probing questions around what capabilities the business will need long-term and where they see the opportunities for the role to develop once the initial objectives have been met." This will enable you as a candidate to pick the roles with the most job security.
8. Look Beyond AI for Judgment and Adaptability
It’s easy to fall into simply assessing AI skills but Richard advises to look one layer beyond that, to what they may do with that data: "Engaging with AI to produce strong business outcomes will be key. But being able to communicate, negotiate and influence stakeholders effectively will likely become significantly more important."
In fact, this is something that will long endure into the future, after exact expectations of AI skills may change: "Businesses should focus on securing candidates with strong business judgement, who can really identify what problems need to be solved, and whether recommendations are commercially viable."
Want to learn more about what’s really important to UK employees? Download our 2026 Workplace Trends Report below – or speak to one of our consultants about your hiring.
