The number of job postings in December 2024 has dropped back in line with pre-pandemic rates, according to new figures.
There were 1,415,574 active postings in the final month of last year, a 5.5% reduction from November 2024, data from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast Labour Market Tracker showed.
The latest figures suggest numbers are falling to those reported in December 2019 before the Covid outbreak, when there were 1.41m listings.
In the UK, there were 550,982 new job postings – a 16.8% decline from the previous month, reflecting the annual festive seasonal slowdown.
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REC chief executive Neil Carberry said: “December is always a recruitment low point, so we will have to wait for January and February figures to judge where we are as firms return to the market in 2025.
“Despite a long slowdown in demand, the fact that we are only returning to pre-pandemic norms now shows that there are still opportunities out there for jobseekers, who skilled recruiters are ready to help with their next step.
“A new job is the best way to build wage growth and opportunity into someone’s career. We anticipate that a return to growth this year will drive business confidence to hire and invest.”
He said employers will be looking to the Chancellor to underpin this confidence, describing current government policy as “more of a hindrance than a help in getting employment rates up”.
“We can see that the approach firms take needs to change to ensure that we make the best of our people and the new tech that is available for us. For any firm, hiring should be a strategic activity – too many businesses aren’t there yet,” Carberry said.
Regional and sector variations
The data found the four areas with the biggest increase in job postings were in the South East, with rises of 4.5% in East Sussex, followed by 2.8% in East Surrey and 2.3% in Portsmouth and 1.3% in north-east West Sussex. However, as a region the South East experienced a 4.0% drop overall.
According to the figures, the sharpest declines in posting were in Dudley (-14.6%), East Dunbartonshire (-15.1%) and Ealing (-15.5%).
The biggest increase in job postings were revealed to be in Central Bedfordshire (26.3%), Devon (4.5%) and East Sussex (4.5%).
The number of postings for childminding jobs increased the most by 106.3%, more than doubling from 430 to 887, in December 2024 from to the previous month.
Optometrist postings increased by 88.9% in the same period, while authors, writers and translators saw a 51.9% rise and train and tram driver listings grew by 49.5%.
Job postings dropped by 26.6% for bar staff, 26.7% for coffee shop workers and 27.6% for hairdressers and barbers from November to December 2024.
In terms of sectors, driving and logistics postings dropped by 8.1%, while hospitality and catering listings fell by 15.7% in the same period. The retail sector saw a decline of 12.1%.
A shifting market
Carberry said: “It’s surprising how few have noticed that the UK has just experienced its longest jobs market contraction since 2000. But the fact that we’ve navigated through it without a complete meltdown really highlights the strength, flexibility, and resilience of our skilled workforce – and how our economy just finds a way to keep turning.”
He insisted that businesses must be ready to seize the opportunity when the labour market shifts this year, which he believes will happen rapidly.
Carberry added: “With a shrinking domestic workforce and intense competition for talent, businesses can only unlock the best opportunities through a deeper, more strategic partnership on talent. This means businesses should look to get more bang for their buck from recruiters in 2025 by asking for more strategic and high-value support.”
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