Bosses are in hiring limbo Reeves must start listening -

UK is stuck in a recruitment doom loop, writes James Moore

- JAMES MOORE

An ill wind continues to blow through the UK economy, with the jobs market enduring particularly chilly gusts. For those in search of work, it hasn't been this cold in years, as three separate datasets, coming in a day ahead of the official Labour Force Survey being released, demonstrate. The government had better brace itself for bad news.

First up: the KPMG/Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) “Report on Jobs”, which has found that “recruitment activity continued to fall sharply at the start of the third quarter” of 2025. The report also found an increase in candidate availability and, unsurprisingly, slowing wage growth, which will at least please the Bank of England. It watches the latter closely.

A similar theme emerged from the Labour Market Outlook, published by the Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development (CIPD). It found employer confidence close to its lowest level since the pandemic. The number was still, barely, in positive territory at +9, marginally ahead of the previous update (+8). But that’s hardly anything to write home about.

Just 57 per cent of private sector employers plan to recruit over the next three months, compared with 65 per cent in the autumn of 2024. The CIPD also highlighted the mounting challenges facing young people. “While employers don’t pay national insurance contributions (NICs) for workers under 21 or apprentices under 25, those who hire them were more likely to report that their employment costs have risen significantly,” said James Cockett, CIPD senior labour market economist.