Promising signs for jobs and hiring in the UK

There was a solid bounce back in job postings in September after the traditional summer holiday slowdown, according to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) monthly Labour Market Tracker.

The number of new job postings in the UK in September 2025 was 742,967 – up by 11.3% from August 2025. And the overall number of active job postings was 1,638,924 – an increase of 10.6% on the number of job postings in August 2025. Overall, the job market remains resilient with active job postings staying steady above 1.4 million.

A rise in September activity is not a given: in September 2024, there were 1,544,753 active job postings, which is 9.6% fewer than in August 2024, reflecting the slowdown in the market seen last year.

By comparison, between September 2024 and September 2025, postings rose by 5.5%, indicating a more stable picture on hiring starting to emerge.

Key findings from the tracker include:

An increase in job postings this month for Postal Workers, Mail Sorters, Messengers and Couriers (108.1%), Head Teachers and Principals (57.5%) and Educational Support Assistants (39.8%)
Registered Specialist Nurses (-11.0%), Optometrists (-13.7%) and Midwifery Nurses (-16.5%) all showed the largest decrease in roles from August to September 2025.
Causeway Coast and Glens (40.5%), Fermanagh and Omagh (40.0%) and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (38.2%) showed the highest increase in job postings.
Tower Hamlets (-7.8%), Camden and City of London (-13.9%) and Westminster (-14.2%) all accounted for the sharpest decline in job postings.

“Recruiters reported a trickle of hiring firms coming back to the market in September, especially in the Midlands and the North. This data appears to back this up,” said REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry.

“While small, this bounce back is solid, and especially encouraging for an embattled hospitality sector and roles in logistics and light industrial work. Both of these are associated with employers beginning to prepare for a busy festive season.”

To build a trickle of new hiring into a river, employers will need to feel more confident in the economic outlook, Carberry said.

“That is why the upcoming Budget needs to back business, not burden it. That means no unaffordable tax hikes, sensible updates to the Employment Rights Bill to ensure it is deliverable, genuine support for flexible working and action to fix the recruitment costs fuelled by the NHS’s anti-agency measures,” he said.