Job vacancies at lowest level since 2021 as London worst affected February 23, 2026 The UK’s job market took another hit after total vacancies fell to the lowest level since 2021, with London the region facing the biggest drop in open roles. The number of jobs advertised plummeted 16 per cent year-on-year to January, dipping below 700,000 for the first time since January 2021, according to job search platform [...]
Private sector axes more jobs amid Reeves’ tax and wage pressures February 20, 2026 The UK’s private sectors culled jobs for the seventeenth consecutive month in February led by a significant drop in the services sector as businesses were still digesting the impact of Labour’s 2024 Autumn Budget. The latest flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from S&P Global described the rate of job shedding in February as at a [...]
Unemployment hits post-pandemic high as wage growth slips February 17, 2026 The labour market continued to loosen in the final quarter of last year, official figures show, with wage growth easing and unemployment climbing steadily higher. The rate of joblessness crept up to 5.2 per cent between October and December, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the highest level since early 2021 and slightly [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Unemployment rises; Debenhams’ £35m raise February 17, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The UK unemployment rate has risen again this morning, with fresh data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing the rate had surged to 5.2 per cent in the three months to December 2025. This was up from 5.1 per cent in the latest [...]
Employment Rights Act set to stall hiring, says report February 16, 2026 The government’s new package of employment rights will put a brake on hiring, according to a new report, as businesses worry about the possible risks and costs. More than a third (37 per cent) of businesses surveyed by the the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) plan to reduce hiring permanent staff as a [...]
Fintech growth sparks London hiring spree January 28, 2026 Fintech firms drove a hefty increase in hiring in the financial sector last year, a new report from City recruiter Morgan McKinley shows. Across the financial sector, the number of listed vacancies rose 13 per cent compared to the previous year despite continued inflationary pressures and lingering economic uncertainty. Fintech hiring surged 29 per cent [...]
How day one sick pay will change hiring behaviour January 12, 2026 Few employers disagree with the objectives of day one sick pay, but there could be adverse impacts on hiring behaviour, writes George Reed.
US law firms lead London hiring, fuelled by private capital growth January 5, 2026 Legal recruiters for big law firms in the City had a busy 2025 as hiring for the most senior lawyers surged, with the trend expected to continue into the new year. As employment figures rose in the UK to above the 5 per cent mark in 2025, according to figures by legal recruiter Edwards Gibson, [...]
Private sector slump to drag on to Spring 2026, businesses say December 22, 2025 UK business leaders have warned that the sharp downturn in the private sector is likely to continue until Spring 2026, after firms put plans for future investment on ice in the run-up to the Labour government’s Autumn Budget. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) anticipates private sector output to fall in the fourth quarter after [...]
LinkedIn: UK businesses could get £532bn AI recruitment boost October 23, 2025 UK businesses could theoretically unlock £532bn in productivity through AI-assisted recruitment, according to new research from LinkedIn. The report suggests that AI tools, such as LinkedIn’s own ‘hiring assistant’ tool, can free recruiters from administrative tasks like screening CVs, writing job descriptions and scouting talent, allowing them to focus on strategic hiring decisions. Janine Chamberlin, [...]