Employment across West Surrey and Hampshire has fallen in the past year as part of a wider slowdown across the South East, with the region losing more than 14,000 people from company payrolls.

According to WageSight, in West Surrey, payroll numbers fell 0.3 percent over the year, while North Hampshire recorded a 0.2 percent drop and Central Hampshire a 0.4 percent fall.

Across the South East as a whole, the number of payrolled employees stood at 4,278,394 in September 2025, down 0.3 percent on the same month last year and 2,037 fewer than in June.

Median monthly pay in the region was £2,693, up 5.4 percent year-on-year but down 0.55 percent since August, suggesting wage growth may be starting to flatten after months of steady gains.

Across the UK, total employment fell to 30.3 million in September, a 0.33 percent annual drop, according to data analysed by the employment and pay app WageSight. National median pay rose 5.5 percent to £2,546 but slipped 0.86 percent on the month.

WageSight director Paul Hebden said: “Employers across the region continue to cut back on payroll in recent months, with few areas showing signs of bucking the trend. The South East seems to be faring slightly worse than other regions.

“Wages remain higher than a year ago, but there are signs of downward pressure, with the median salary for the region falling between August and September. This breaks a long-standing trend of growth, and it will be important to see if it continues given household cost pressures.”

WageSight is an employment insight platform that tracks pay and employment trends across more than 270 UK regions using official government data.