The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) / Lightcast monthly Labour Market Tracker has shown job postings rising marginally in April, while total active job posts remain above 1.4 million.
The overall number of active job postings in April 2025 was 1,471,260 – a decrease of 4.8 per cent on the number of job postings in March 2025. But the number of new job postings in the UK was 729,029 – marginally up by 0.4 per cent on March 2025. Recruiters report that the Easter holiday, rising costs and uncertainty about the effects of US tariffs all had an impact this month.
While there is stability in the job market despite the huge hit from rises in national insurance, real progress on job creation will need more growth momentum to pick up.
“The British labour market is resilient but facing some strong headwinds this year from cost inflation and the impact of government policies like the National Insurance rise,” commented, REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry. “These figures show that there is underlying demand, however. Getting confidence to hire and invest going is what matters most – and firms will be looking to government decisions that make growth easier, unlike the effect of last year’s Budget. Many firms report that fear of the Employment Rights Bill is holding up investment – one quick win for government is to reassure firms that application of the Bill will be staged, and done in a practical way that avoids tying businesses and workers up in the costs and complexity of the tribunal system. Real reform to the Bill is needed to achieve this.
“The dip in active job postings shows that employers are still cautious, but the slight rise in new postings suggests that hiring plans are still on the table. The resilience seen in London and the South West is a positive sign, as London in particular is often the leading indicator of change in our jobs market,” Carberry added.
International recruitment for care workers will end under plans announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, as part of the government’s new immigration white paper. Yet today’s Labour Market Tracker shows 45,760 active job postings for care workers and home carers in April 2025
Neil Carberry said: “Today’s data suggests that staff shortages in the care sector persist and reduction in access to international staff is likely to lead to more unfilled vacancies without more fundamental reform. The crisis in care has always been about cost to deliver care and affordability for the taxpayer and families. Just restricting international mobility for care work is not a solution to this – we need more fundamental reform.”
