Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest NewsEconomics, government & businessJob creation and lossesLabour marketRecruitment & retention

Recruitment remains healthy despite fall in postings, says REC

by Adam McCulloch 13 Dec 2024
by Adam McCulloch 13 Dec 2024 Photo: Shutterstock
Photo: Shutterstock

The volume of job postings in November shows that the recruitment market is healthy, according to a key labour market indicator.

This was the conclusion of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation based on latest results of the REC/Lightcast Labour Market Tracker.

The number of overall active job postings in November 2024 was 1,500,910. Although this was a decrease of 2.8% on the number of job postings in October 2024, it continued trend of moderation back to pre-pandemic levels, said the REC.

The organisation found that plenty of employers were keen to hire, with around 100,000 job postings in each of the hospitality, driving and logistics and retail sectors, as the country heads into the busy Christmas period.

UK labour market

Labour market shows ‘signs of life’, says REC

Labour market figures October 2024: a mixed picture

Non-UK jobseekers prop up labour market postings

REC chief executive Neil Carberry said: “Today’s numbers emphasise the scale and relative good health of the UK’s labour market.”

He added that many employers were concerned by the costs that the Budget and the Employment Rights Bill may bring, if poorly implemented, “but the economy is bigger than policy, and the relative health of household balance sheets and growing confidence among employers in their own business can shift the scales in the other direction.

“With political stability and lower inflation, businesses are well-positioned to head into the jobs market and trading next year with more confidence,” he said.

Lower and longer recruitment spikes in Christmas hiring in recent years were the result of employers improving their planning around workforce needs, said Carberry. Firms were, for example, extending temporary contracts rather than hitting the job market late in the year.

The REC said its latest recruitment industry status report found that, on any given day in 2023, 1,058,300 temporary or contract workers were on assignment in the UK.

Unsurprisingly, the increase in job postings was particularly evident for delivery drivers and couriers (101%).

Four of the top 10 counties that had the highest increase in job postings were in London: Wandsworth (13%); Haringey and Islington (12.6%); Hackney and Newham (4.6%); and Ealing (4.5%). Despite some pockets of growth, London as a region saw a 1.9% decline overall in job postings.

Overall, said Carberry, Christmas hiring was more modest this year than last. This reflected the challenging economy but also that more employers are getting better at forecasting staff needs ahead of Christmas without needing to rush to the job market.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more human resources jobs

Adam McCulloch

Adam McCulloch first worked for Personnel Today magazine in the early 1990s as a sub editor. He rejoined Personnel Today as a writer in 2017, covering all aspects of HR but with a special interest in diversity, social mobility and industrial relations. He has ventured beyond the HR realm to work as a freelance writer and production editor in sectors including travel (The Guardian), aviation (Flight International), agriculture (Farmers' Weekly), music (Jazzwise), theatre (The Stage) and social work (Community Care). He is also the author of KentWalksNearLondon. Adam first became interested in industrial relations after witnessing an exchange between Arthur Scargill and National Coal Board chairman Ian McGregor in 1984, while working as a temp in facilities at the NCB, carrying extra chairs into a conference room!

previous post
Post Office scandal police probe to draw in employees, lawyers and civil servants
next post
2024: the year’s biggest news in employment and HR

You may also like

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

UK and EU agree to collaborate on ‘youth...

19 May 2025

Immigration white paper: which jobs will be affected?

19 May 2025

Public sector needs 92,000 more workers to remain...

19 May 2025

Burberry puts 1,700 jobs at risk in cost-cutting...

14 May 2025

ONS: Slower wage growth but rising unemployment

13 May 2025

Downturn in hiring activity eased in April

12 May 2025

CIPD links Employment Rights Bill with low business...

12 May 2025

UK-US deal saves ‘thousands’ of jobs in car...

9 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+