Employment falls in Lewisham and Southwark as pay rises to £3,311 a month
WageSight Wire · Jul 2026
- Employment
- 314,396 workers (June 2026)
- Monthly change
- -0.1% (-220 workers)
- Annual change
- -1.0% (-3,112 workers)
- Median pay
- £3,311/month (YoY: +4.6%, £147 more in cash terms)
- Total pay bill
- +2.3% on the year
- Real pay vs Feb 2022
- +£48 better off in real terms
Payrolled employment in Lewisham and Southwark fell 1% over the year to June 2026, 3,112 fewer workers, with a further monthly dip of 0.1% sustaining the downward pressure.
Across London, payrolled employment edged down 0.8% over the year to June 2026. Lewisham and Southwark ranked 12th of 20 sub-regional areas in London by employment change over the past year.
The median pay packet for workers in Lewisham and Southwark stood at £3,311 in June 2026, up 4.6% over the past year and ahead of inflation at 2.82%. After a period of sharp inflation from 2022 that eroded real earnings, wages have been recovering. Workers in Lewisham and Southwark are now £48 a month better off in real terms than in February 2022, when median earnings stood at £2,630 a month. The total pay bill in Lewisham and Southwark rose 2.3% over the year, faster than headcount, suggesting average earnings per worker are improving.
Lewisham and Southwark's performance lagged behind the UK as a whole, where payrolled employment was broadly flat, down 0.2% over the year to June 2026. Across the UK, 599,257 workers entered payrolled employment in May 2026, the most recently available flow data, while 596,423 left, a net gain of 2,834 workers.
“Employers in Lewisham and Southwark have reported a significant dip in payroll in the latest figures. It's too early to tell if this is businesses bracing agains the impact of the current economic uncertainty on inflation. On the flip side, wages for those in work continues to surge. The positive story is that workers in Lewisham and Southwark are seeing their pay packets grow. That's money in people's pockets, and it matters for local businesses and public services. But there will be understandable concern at the employment picture.”
— Paul Hebden, Campaign Salience
London — employment and pay
| # | Area | Workers | Jobs (yr) | Median pay | Pay (yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bexley and Greenwich | 266,072 | +0.3% | £3,068 | +4.5% |
| 2 | Barking & Dagenham and Havering | 228,534 | +0.0% | £2,751 | +4.9% |
| 3 | Hackney and Newham | 326,819 | +0.0% | £2,813 | +4.4% |
| 4 | Merton, Kingston upon Thames and Sutton | 286,271 | -0.4% | £3,181 | +4.5% |
| 5 | Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames | 236,611 | -0.4% | £3,036 | +3.9% |
| 6 | Bromley | 152,806 | -0.6% | £3,385 | +4.3% |
| 7 | Croydon | 191,987 | -0.6% | £2,973 | +5.1% |
| 8 | Wandsworth | 177,562 | -0.7% | £3,991 | +4.6% |
| 9 | Redbridge and Waltham Forest | 285,050 | -0.7% | £2,866 | +5.3% |
| 10 | Harrow and Hillingdon | 274,842 | -0.7% | £2,833 | +4.6% |
| 11 | Tower Hamlets | 170,646 | -0.9% | £3,316 | +4.1% |
| 12 | Lewisham and Southwark | 314,396 | -1.0% | £3,311 | +4.6% |
| 13 | Ealing | 181,268 | -1.0% | £2,908 | +4.5% |
| 14 | Barnet | 174,513 | -1.2% | £2,929 | +5.2% |
| 15 | Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham | 153,283 | -1.4% | £3,735 | +4.8% |
| 16 | Lambeth | 169,867 | -1.5% | £3,496 | +4.3% |
| 17 | Enfield | 145,051 | -1.6% | £2,611 | +4.6% |
| 18 | Haringey and Islington | 240,111 | -1.7% | £3,264 | +5.0% |
| 19 | Camden | 97,256 | -1.8% | £3,610 | +5.9% |
| 20 | Brent | 169,443 | -1.9% | £2,723 | +5.2% |
Notes to editors
Figures from WageSight, derived from ONS / HMRC PAYE Real Time Information. Full method at wagesight.com/methodology.
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