{"id":14145,"date":"2026-05-01T17:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiringlab.org\/uk\/?p=14145"},"modified":"2026-05-01T17:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:18:11","slug":"april-2026-uk-labour-market-update-hiring-demand-continues-to-soften","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiringlab.org\/uk\/blog\/2026\/05\/01\/april-2026-uk-labour-market-update-hiring-demand-continues-to-soften\/","title":{"rendered":"April 2026 UK Labour Market Update: Hiring Demand Continues to Soften"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Key points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>UK job postings have fallen around 8% since the outbreak of the Iran conflict in late February, and now stand 29% below their pre-pandemic baseline.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The drag is most visible in energy-exposed sectors such as construction, installation &amp; maintenance and production &amp; manufacturing \u2013though consumer-facing and professional occupations have shown greater resilience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The softening labour market complicates the Bank of England&#8217;s task as it weighs rising inflation against downside growth risks from the conflict.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Our Labour Market Updates examine important trends using Indeed and other labour market data. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiringlab.org\/uk\/presentations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">European Labour Market Overview chartbook<\/a> provides a more comprehensive view of the European labour market. Other data, including the Indeed Wage Tracker, is regularly updated and can be accessed on our <a href=\"https:\/\/data.indeed.com\/#\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">data portal<\/a>.<\/em><br><br>UK hiring demand has shown signs of further softening in recent weeks amid a global energy price shock, with job postings falling by around 8% since the start of the war in Iran. However, recent performance is uneven across job categories, with some experiencing larger declines, while others show modest falls or even growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A weakening labour market remains a key consideration for policymakers at the Bank of England as they weigh competing risks to the UK economy from rising inflation and downside growth prospects stemming from the conflict. The Bank\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held its policy rate steady at 3.75% in April, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cg7p89mp2rjo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">setting out its thinking<\/a> as to possible future rate increases under different scenarios, from shorter to more prolonged energy market disruptions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Job postings have fallen in recent weeks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>UK job postings are down about 8% since the outbreak of the conflict in Iran in late February. They now stand 29% below their pre-pandemic baseline, in contrast to other major advanced economies like the euro area and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiringlab.org\/2026\/03\/26\/how-women-have-closed-the-workforce-gender-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">US<\/a>, where postings remain above baseline.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, euro area postings show a similar recent downward trajectory to the UK (down 7% since the start of the conflict). That could be a reflection of the estimated <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.investing.com\/news\/commodities-news\/europe-is-about-twice-as-sensitive-to-oil-shocks-vs-the-us-4611447\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">greater exposure<\/a> of European economies to the energy price shock relative to the US economy (where postings are down just 2%).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170703\/image-1024x640.png\" alt=\"Line chart titled \u201cUK job postings remain subdued but stable\u201d showing overall job postings for the UK, euro area and US from 2020 to 2026. UK job postings remain well below pre-pandemic levels, in contrast to peer economies where they are at or above baseline.\u00a0\" class=\"wp-image-14146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170703\/image-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170703\/image-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170703\/image-768x480.png 768w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170703\/image-1536x960.png 1536w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170703\/image.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Line chart titled \u201cUK job postings remain subdued but stable\u201d showing overall job postings for the UK, euro area and US from 2020 to 2026. UK job postings remain well below pre-pandemic levels, in contrast to peer economies where they are at or above baseline.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Some occupational sectors are showing resilience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent performance is uneven across job categories. Construction, installation &amp; maintenance and production &amp; manufacturing \u2013 all relatively highly exposed to energy prices \u2013 show among the biggest declines since late February.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But many categories have seen only modest declines over the period, including consumer-facing sectors such as retail and food preparation &amp; service, as well as most professional occupations like accounting, banking &amp; finance and management. Education &amp; instruction, meanwhile, continues to see robust hiring demand, with momentum building in recent weeks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170704\/image-1-1024x683.png\" alt=\"Scatter plot titled \u201cSome job categories are showing resilience\u201d plotting the current JPI level vs the recent change across occupations. A handful of categories have seen growth in recent weeks, while a number of others have seen modest declines.\u00a0\" class=\"wp-image-14147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170704\/image-1-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170704\/image-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170704\/image-1-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170704\/image-1-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net\/hiringlaborg\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/01170704\/image-1.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Scatter plot titled \u201cSome job categories are showing resilience\u201d plotting the current JPI level vs the recent change across occupations. A handful of categories have seen growth in recent weeks, while a number of others have seen modest declines.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest data paint a labour market under pressure \u2013 but not one in freefall. Occupational categories more exposed to energy prices appear to be bearing the initial brunt (as might be expected), while much of the services economy is holding up. But with global energy prices remaining elevated and business confidence fragile, the risk is that today&#8217;s softness in hiring demand becomes tomorrow&#8217;s acceleration in job cutting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bank of England faces a dilemma: inflation pressures from the energy shock pull in one direction, while a weakening jobs market (and the threat to growth) pulls in the other. The MPC is in wait-and-see mode for now. Still, a prolonged conflict raises the risk of more substantial monetary policy tightening, which would place further strain on the economy, household finances and the labour market.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hiring Lab Data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Job postings data is available on our <a href=\"https:\/\/data.indeed.com\/#\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data Portal<\/a>. We also host the <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/hiring-lab\/data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">underlying job-postings chart data on <\/a>GitHub as downloadable CSV files. Typically, it will be updated with the latest data one day after this blog post is published.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Data on seasonally adjusted Indeed job postings is an index of the number of seasonally adjusted job postings on a given day, using a seven-day trailing average. Feb. 1, 2020, is our pre-pandemic baseline, so the index is set to 100 on that day.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To calculate the average rate of wage growth, we follow an approach similar to the Atlanta Fed <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantafed.org\/chcs\/wage-growth-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>US Wage Growth Tracker<\/em><\/a><em>, but we track jobs, not individuals. We begin by calculating the median posted wage for each country, month, job title, region and salary type (hourly, monthly or annual). Within each country, we then calculate year-on-year wage growth for each job title-region-salary type combination, generating a monthly distribution. Our monthly measure of wage growth for the country is the median of that distribution.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit\u2019s HR Technology segment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key points: Our Labour Market Updates examine important trends using Indeed and other labour market data. Our European Labour Market Overview chartbook provides a more comprehensive view of the European labour market. Other data, including the Indeed Wage Tracker, is regularly updated and can be accessed on our data portal. UK hiring demand has shown [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":14148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"recruiter-hub-blocks.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[251],"post_mwm_category":[349],"post_topic":[],"post_content_type":[],"post_duration":[],"post_actions":[],"post_franchise":[],"post_mwm_author":[305],"class_list":["post-14145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-spotlight","post_mwm_category-state-of-the-labour-market","post_mwm_author-jackkennedy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>April 2026 UK Labour Market Update: Hiring Demand Continues to Soften - Indeed Hiring Lab UK I Ireland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK job postings have fallen 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