New data from jobs website Indeed shows that the UK is yet to return to pre-pandemic hiring levels – but there are a number of roles which have seen a big jump over the last year.
As of November 2025, the number of UK job postings on Indeed was 19% below its 1 February 2020, pre-pandemic baseline, and was down roughly 8% year-on-year.
Data from the jobs data board show that only a handful of categories have seen growth over the past year. Notably, the UK remains an outlier compared with peer economies in Europe and the US, where postings generally remain above pre-pandemic baselines.
Those which did see an increase include:
- Loading & stocking (+20ppts)
- Childcare (+15)
- Logistic support (+15)
- Civil engineering (+8)
- IT systems & solutions (+5)
- Architecture (+5)
- Software development (+5)
- Food preparation & service (+5)
Conversely, the biggest declines were in:
- Veterinary (-39)
- Real estate (-30)
- Community & social service (-28)
Dental (-25) and social science (-23) also saw postings fall, albeit from high levels, and both remain comfortably above baseline, Indeed said.
The occupations where postings remain most elevated compared with pre-pandemic levels are education & instruction, mechanical engineering and social science. Conversely, postings are well below the baseline in nursing, beauty & wellness and media & communications.
“When broken down by wage tiers, job postings for low-wage occupations (-20% below baseline) are trending slightly below high-wage ones (-14%). That’s in contrast to the situation in other European countries, including Germany, France and Italy, where low-wage postings remain considerably stronger than high-wage ones,” the group said.
“This divergence has been partly driven by the slowdown in hiring demand in sectors including retail, hospitality and leisure, which employ large numbers of lower-wage staff and have been hit hardest by increased payroll costs and significant minimum wage increases.”
Reflecting their greater exposure to weakness in professional occupations, job postings are furthest below baseline in the South East (-31%) and London (-29%).
Northern Ireland (+20%) and the North East (+16%) are the only regions with postings above the baseline.
All twelve UK regions saw declines in job postings over the past year, Indeed said.
Leave a Reply