Category: JOBS

The summer job has staged a comeback this year thanks to the hot weather and a packed calendar of events such as the men’s football World Cup, new UK figures show.Recent months have seen a significant increase in seasonal hiring in sectors such as hospitality and tourism compared with summer 2025, said the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), which runs a monthly labour market tracker.It said that this time last year “there was concern about the death of the great British summer job”, but added: “This is the summer when the seasonal summer jobs market started to come back.“Exceptionally warm weather and a busy calendar of sporting, music and cultural events … has helped boost demand for workers.”A dip in postings for summer jobs last year fuelled concerns that squeezed employers would continue to cut back on seasonal hiring, which has traditionally given young people their first experience of the world of work.However, this year there has been a double-digit...

Areas of the country with the biggest increase in job adverts generally included Milton Keynes, Westminster, Solihull and the Orkney Islands, said the report. There were a total of 1,669,203 job adverts across the UK last month, a 7.7% increase from July last year, thanks to a big rise in hospitality and tourism jobs, recruiters said. Read More: Maxine Bligh, REC’s chief membership and innovation officer, said: “Exceptionally warm weather and a busy calendar of sporting, music and cultural events, such as the men’s football World Cup, has helped boost demand for workers. “It is not totally straightforward for young people to earn wages just yet, with many entry-level jobs still not bouncing back as much as we would like, but there are undoubtedly more opportunities across hospitality, tourism and construction than last year. “Now the challenge is to carry this hiring momentum into the rest of the year and across more sectors. There is...

The UK is the only country among Europe’s five largest economies where job postings have not fully recovered since COVID-19, remaining about 20% below their pre-pandemic levels as of late 2025. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Demand for labour is shifting, with some occupations losing ground, while others are seeing strong growth. Data from global...

By Adegboyega Adeleye The right choice of courses to study in the UK is hugely relevant, as it helps to place you in the right pedestal in evolving job markets. The UK is regarded as an academic ‘hotspot’ and a top study destination because it hosts some of the most prominent universities in the world and offers world-class teaching. Consequently, if you want to gain academic prominence and success in your career, it is important to consider the best courses which serve such values and offer the biggest job prospects for graduates. Based on the potential for employability, salary value, and relevance, this article highlights the top ten courses that offer high job opportunities and can lead to high-paying jobs in the UK. 1. Computer Science and IT The tech industry in the UK continues to dominate as technology transforms every industry. A degree in Computer Science or IT gives you skills in coding, software development, cybersecurity, and data analysis. Many graduates get roles in fintech,...

Young people are bearing the brunt of the UK's weak labour market, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Some 16.1% of people aged 16 to 24 are not able to find work, compared to a national unemployment figure of 5.1%.That does not include young people who are out of work but not looking for a job, due to ill health or who are still studying.Businesses, particularly in sectors that traditionally gave young people their first jobs, like retail and hospitality, say higher costs are leading them to cut staff or not take on new hires, which often hits young workers the hardest.But graduate-level roles are also proving harder to land.Lucy Gabb is currently working in a cafe in London while trying to break into the publishing industry. She graduated from Cambridge University in July 2025."Entry-level jobs are just so competitive and they're asking for experience that is just impossible to get whilst you're also studying," she...

The number of job vacancies in the UK has tumbled to the lowest level in five years, research suggests, falling to levels not seen since the pandemic.The number of jobs being advertised slid by 3% in January to 695,000, according to the job search site Adzuna, marking the first time advertised vacancies have dropped below 700,000 since January 2021.Graduate jobs fell below 10,000 for the first time since Adzuna began tracking this in 2016.The research comes days after official figures showed unemployment in the UK had risen to a five-year high of 5.2%, at a time when wage growth is slowing and concerns are increasing that young people are bearing the brunt of the slowdown in hiring.The fall in the number of vacancies marked a continuation in the downward trend seen during late 2025 and showed a 16% slide compared with last January and a near-20% fall since six months earlier.It highlights how sharply job opportunities have shrunk since mid-2025,...

Job switching varies markedly by occupation, shaped by entry barriers, skill specialisation and labour demand. Key points: Job switching varies by occupation: Around 2.4% of Indeed users in the UK change jobs each month, with 63% of these moving into a different occupation. Turnover is highest in entry-level roles such as loading & stocking, food preparation & service, and hospitality & tourism, and lowest in occupations like beauty & wellness, nursing, and electrical engineering.  Barriers and accessibility influence mobility: Roles with lower entry requirements or more generalised skills attract more external talent, while specialised professions such as nursing, dentistry, and software development experience lower inflows and stronger occupational attachment. Demand and skill investment drive retention: Occupations with high demand or significant barriers to entry see fewer workers leaving. High-demand or specialised roles, especially in healthcare, have lower exit rates, whereas temporary or junior roles in sectors like hospitality and retail experience much higher exit rates. People change jobs for a variety of reasons. Higher pay...

-ENDS-Contact:KPMGClaire BarrattDeputy Head of Media RelationsT:+44 (0)7923 439264claire.barratt@kpmg.co.uk RECHamant VermaCommunications ManagerT: +44 (0)20 7009 2129hamant.verma@rec.uk.comS&P GlobalAnnabel FiddesEconomics Associate DirectorS&P Global Market IntelligenceT: +44 (0)1491 461 010annabel.fiddes@spglobal.comHannah BrookEMEA Communications ManagerS&P Global Market IntelligenceT: +44-7483-439-812hannah.brook@spglobal.compress.mi@spglobal.com MethodologyThe KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies. Survey responses are collected in the second half of each month and indicate the direction of change compared to the previous month. A diffusion index is calculated for each survey variable. The index is the sum of the percentage of ‘higher’ responses and half the percentage of ‘unchanged’ responses. The indices vary between 0 and 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall increase compared to the previous month, and below 50 an overall decrease. The indices are then seasonally adjusted.Underlying survey data are not revised after publication, but seasonal adjustment factors may be revised from time to time as...

More than half of retail jobs could be affected by reform to guaranteed working hours, making it harder for shops to employ people – particularly young workers – in part-time roles, the industry’s lobby group has warned.From April, the Employment Rights Act will introduce new protections for workers on sick pay, sexual harassment, parental leave and trade union recognition.Further rights to guaranteed hours for those currently on zero or “low hours” contracts, flexible working, payment for short-notice cancellation of shifts and barring fire-and-rehire practices in most circumstances are due next year.However, the government has yet to decide the maximum number of hours in a low-hours contract and the period of weeks over which regular working patterns can be assessed in order to decide guaranteed hours.The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents most big UK retailers, says guaranteed hours protections should only apply to contracts of eight hours a week or fewer, and the reference period to be at least 26...