Forget London: Manchester is suddenly where the jobs are
Key Points
- Manchester's professional hiring surged 21% from March to April, outpacing London's 17% growth.
- This marks a sharp reversal, with the North West now leading the UK's post-uncertainty recovery.
- Demand focuses on strategic roles like data analysis, compliance, digital transformation, software development, and HR.
- Manchester's decade-long push as a tech and services hub is paying off, attracting skilled workers.
- The trend signals a potential structural shift away from London, driven by costs and regional confidence.
Manchester is hiring faster than London right now, and the gap is widening.
New data from Robert Half shows the number of professional roles posted in Manchester jumped 21% between March and April, four points ahead of London’s 17% growth over the same period.
It’s a sharp reversal of the usual pecking order in UK hiring, and it suggests the post-uncertainty recovery is being led from the North West rather than the capital.
The roles driving the surge are not entry-level filler. Demand is concentrated in business intelligence and data analysis, compliance, digital transformation, software development and testing, marketing and PR, HR, and office support. These are the hires companies make when they are planning for the next five years, not just patching gaps.
Manchester has spent the better part of a decade positioning itself as the UK’s second tech and professional services hub, with Spinningfields, MediaCityUK and the city’s growing data centre footprint all pulling in skilled workers. The figures suggest that pitch is landing.
Employers in the region appear to be unfreezing paused hiring plans and committing to specialists who can deliver near-term value while building longer-term capability.
Catherine Henry, Branch Director for Manchester at Robert Half, said the rebound reflects renewed confidence among local employers, with businesses investing in technology, compliance and transformation roles that “future proof organisations” and open up career paths for skilled professionals across the region.
For London, the read-through is less flattering. The capital is still growing, but it is no longer setting the pace.
With salary inflation, office costs and commuting fatigue all eroding its pull, the gravitational tug of regional hubs is starting to show up in the hard numbers. Manchester is the loudest signal so far, but Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol have all been making similar noises in recent quarters.
The bigger question is whether this is a one-month blip or the start of a structural shift. The composition of the roles, heavy on data, compliance and transformation, suggests it is the latter.
Companies do not hire those people on a whim.
