Review of the UK Jobs Market – November 2025

Welcome to our Review of the UK Jobs Market for November. Each month, we share market insight on the state of the UK jobs market.

You can either read our short blog, or see our infographic.

The main findings were:

• • Weaker, but still marked, reduction in permanent worker demand
  • Uncertainty and higher staffing expenses weigh on recruitment activity
  • Pick-up in permanent salaries as firms seek to attract talented candidates.

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Staff Appointments

After rising for the first time in 16 months in October, temp billings declined during November. That said, the rate of reduction was modest and slower than the average for 2025 to date. Budget related uncertainty and a general slowdown in hiring had underpinned the renewed fall in billings.

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Vacancies

Vacancy continue to decline during November

November signalled a further reduction in overall demand for workers. Vacancies for permanent roles fell at the softest pace in five months, albeit one that remained quicker than for temporary positions. The latter fell at a fractionally slower rate than seen in October but solidly overall.

Initial estimates of vacancies published by the Office for National Statistics indicated that vacancies broadly stabilised in the three months to October. Measured overall by the number of open roles increased by just 2,000 to 723,000 over the latest three-month period. The number of job opportunities remained almost 10% below the pre-pandemic level.

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Staff Availability

Strongest rise in permanent candidate numbers

As has been the case since March 2023, the availability of permanent workers increased during November. Furthermore the rate of expansion accelerated to the second-sharpest since late 2020, with recruiters often noting that redundancies and fewer vacancies had caused the upturn in permanent labour supply.

Rapid and quicker increase in supply of temporary labour

The supply of temporary workers across the UK continued to rise at an historically sharp pace midway through the final quarter of 2025. Notably the rate of growth accelerated from October and was among the steepest seen since the pandemic. Availability of short-term staff rose due to the subdued economic climate and company layoffs also attributed,

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Pay Pressures

Permanent salaries contiued to rise during November, in line with the trend since early 2021. Salaries had generally been increased to attract talented application, especially in those areas where skills were in short supply.

Source: KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs 8th December 2025