Review of the UK Jobs Market – December 2025

Welcome to our Review of the UK Jobs Market for December. 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:

• • Permanent placements fall at sharpest rate since August
  • Temp billings decline at quicker, but mild rate
  • Starting salary inflation improves and temp pay returns to growth

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Staff Appointments

There’s been a back-to-back monthly decline in billings received from the employment of short-term staff in December. Although quicker than November, the rate was slower than the average for 2025. There were a number of reports that this was due to subdued economic conditions and employer concerns around cost.

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Vacancies

December sees slightly quicker fall in demand for staff

The steeper reduction in overall demand for workers was driven by a quicker drop in permanent vacancies, as temp roles declined at a slower rate. Whilst solid, the latest reduction in demand for short-term workers was the softest recorded in six months.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that vacancies were little-changed in the three months to November, At 729,000, the number of available roles was down by just 2,000 compared to the three months to July.

The number of job vacancies stands 8.3% below the level seen before the pandemic.

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Staff Availability

Permanent staff availability rises at quickest pace in four months

Permanent candidate numbers rose again in December, thereby stretching the current period of expansion that began in march 2023. The degree to which availability increased edged up to the sharpest in four months. Redundancies were central to the latest increase in candidate supply. A lack of job opportunities was also cited as having pushed up staff availability.

Softest growth in temp candidate numbers since last April

For the thirty-fourth month in a row, an increase in temporary staff availability was recorded in December. The rate of growth eased from the previous month and, while sharp easing the slowest seen since last April. Where candidate supply had improved this was often attributed to company layoff and fewer short-term projects.

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Pay Pressures

December saw an increase in average permanent pay for the fifty-eighth month in a row. The rate of inflation was solid and the fastest seen since last April. Permanent pay rose due to efforts to attract and secure staff, particularly where the supply of candidates remained low.

Source: KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs 12th January 2026