UK Job Vacancies Decline Most Since 2020: REC/KPMG Report

(RTTNews) - UK job vacancies decreased the most since August 2020 as higher cost of employing staff due to the changes in government policies weighed on hiring activity, a report compiled by S&P Global showed on Monday.

Vacancy numbers fell especially sharply for permanent worker, with the rate of contraction accelerating for the fifth successive month, the KPMG/REC Report on Jobs survey revealed. That said, temp workers dropped the most since June 2020.

There was a steep drop in permanent placements in January as falling demand for workers and a general air of business uncertainty damped the labor market.

Permanent placements declined for 28 straight months and the pace of decline was little changed on December's 16-month record. At the same time, temp billings fell to the greatest degree over four-and-a-half years as the pace of contraction accelerated sharply since the end of 2024.

Permanent salary grew at the slowest pace in the current sequence of inflation that began in March 2021. Firms were willing to pay higher starting salaries for good quality candidates but an increased availability of staff tended to weigh on pay growth. Temp rates also grew at a slower pace.

Permanent and temporary staff availability increased in January amid widespread reports of rising volume of redundancies.

"An autumn of fiscal gloom, difficulty navigating significant upcoming tax rises and little progress on the practicalities of a costly new approach to employment rights are all acting as brakes on progress," REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry said. "As well as the monetary stimulus to growth, it's time for greater clarity on how the Government will use its industrial strategy to drive the growth of the whole economy," added Carberry.