UK job vacancies declined again in December 2025, marking the sixth consecutive monthly fall and pushing competition for roles to its highest level in more than four years, according to the latest UK Job Market Report by job matching platform Adzuna.
High inflation, economic uncertainty and the rising use of AI continue to impact hiring activity.
Adzuna data shows vacancies in December fell -3.84% month-on-month to 716,791 jobs.
Vacancies fell -15.09% below December 2024’s levels and represented the lowest average vacancy levels of any full year since 2020 making it one of the worst years for jobseekers since the COVID-19 pandemic.
With hiring slowing, employers are cutting back on remote roles and demanding greater office presence, pulling advertised remote jobs to their lowest level since March 2020.
There were 45,581 advertised remote job ads in December, down -42% annually. Meanwhile, there’s an uptick in office-based job ads, even though advertised hybrid roles continue to climb steadily.
The drop in vacancies also caused competition for roles to intensify again in December to its highest level in more than four years.
There are now 2.3 jobseekers vying for every advertised vacancy, as ONS data shows unemployment held firm at 5.1% – the highest rate since 2020.
Among these figures, however, were green shoots of growth for those entering the market for the first time. After a turbulent year, Graduate vacancies rose +3.9% monthly in December, while broader Entry-level jobs also saw a boost, jumping +18.3% month-on-month. Both sectors are still down on 2024 (-34.6% Graduates; -1.13% Entry-level), but it’s a positive signal.
Another positive signal is the ongoing growth of wages seen throughout 2025. Adzuna’s data shows the average UK salary rose +6.77% annually to £42,991 in December, up +0.71% on the month before. This means annual salaries have been growing steadily for a record 43 months, since May 2022.
With inflation rising faster than expected in December 2025 to 3.4%, the top sectors with annual pay growth outpacing inflation include Domestic Help & Cleaning (9.3% above inflation), IT (9.1%), Logistics & Warehouse (6.1%), and Retail (5.2%). Annual public sector pay grew again by +7.9% compared to the private sector’s +3.6%. Regionally, Wales saw double-digit annual wage growth (+11.41%), marking 11 straight months of double-digit salary rises.
Meanwhile, the share of UK job ads including pay details plummeted to its lowest level of the year – and the lowest level since Adzuna records began in 2016 – to 41.97%. This means close to 3 in 5 job ads (58.03%) now fail to disclose salaries.
Graduate and Entry-level roles rebound while frontline hiring weakens further
Employers were planning ahead and kick-started early-career recruitment in December. Entry-level roles increased +18.3% month-on-month, and Graduate hiring showed its first month-on-month recovery since the summer, with both vacancies and salaries rising +3.9% and +3.3% respectively, although vacancies were still down -34.6% annually compared to December 2024. However, the proportion of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) has remained at record highs since 2014.
Beyond early careers, hiring across sectors remained subdued in many frontline roles. Logistics & Warehouse roles dropped -16.28% monthly and remained more than a third (-35.91%) lower than in 2024, while Hospitality & Catering roles also saw both monthly (-15.54%) and annual (-27.64%) declines, with the usual festive uplifts failing to materialise in these key sectors.
Customer Services openings dropped -8.97% monthly and -24.23% annually, while Retail hiring weakened further, down -19.63% month-on-month and -17.61% annually.
Outside frontline sectors, Healthcare & Nursing vacancies remain under pressure at -25.8% below last year’s levels.
Conversely, Domestic & Cleaning roles continued to stand apart with vacancies sitting significantly higher than a year earlier, up +73.39% annually. After a year of declines and marginal increases, the number of Teaching vacancies also increased monthly +13.23% monthly in December, up +7.68% year-on-year.
Despite the uneven hiring landscape, salaries performed much better across the board with only three sectors – Energy, Oil & Gas (-1.87%), Maintenance (-2.05%), and Travel (-8.58%) – seeing annual declines. IT experienced double-digit annual wage growth again in December (+12.72%) and remained the highest-paid sector, with an average salary of £63,134. Domestic & Cleaning annual salaries also increased (+12.89%), but it remains the only sector to have average salaries below £30,000 at £29,754.
When it comes to hiring speed, the national average fell again to 35.1 days with Admin roles still filling the fastest at 31.7 days. Energy, Oil & Gasnow takes the longest to fill (39.3 days), followed by Graduate (38) and Healthcare & Nursing (37.8).
Scotland hit hardest as competition for vacancies intensifies
Vacancies continued to fall across almost every region of the UK in December, with only North East England seeing the number of roles increase (+1.09%) month-on-month. Scotland recorded the steepest monthly decline, with vacancies falling -8.36% compared with November 2025.
Despite the rise in vacancies, job hunters in the North East continued to face the highest pressure, with 3.81 jobseekers per vacancy, followed by the West Midlands on 3.52. At the other end of the scale, the South West remained the least competitive region with 1.55 jobseekers per vacancy, ahead of the South East at 1.67.
Despite falling vacancy numbers, advertised salaries continued to rise across every region on both a monthly and annual basis in December. Wales recorded the strongest annual pay growth at +11.41%, followed by Scotland (+8.63%) and London (+7.48%). This means annual salaries in Wales have risen consistently by double digits since last January.
London remains the highest-paying part of the country, with average advertised salaries at £49,564, making it the only region with pay levels above the UK average and on track to be the first to surpass the £50,000 mark.
After four months at the top, Warehouse Worker was leapfrogged by Healthcare Support Worker on Adzuna’s Trending Jobs list in December. Cleaner remained in third with Lorry Driver continuing to climb the rankings to fourth, after re-entering the top 10 in November. Delivery Driver fell one place to fifth, followed by Social Care Worker, maintaining the latter’s long-running position among the UK’s most-searched roles. Administrator (10th) returned to the top 10 for the first time since May 2025, while Project Manager and Manager held consistent popularity across the month in 8th and 9th place.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of job matching platform Adzuna, said:“December’s figures confirm what the direction of travel throughout 2025 made clear: last year was one of the toughest years for jobseekers since the pandemic.
“Vacancies fell for six consecutive months, competition for roles intensified and hiring slowed across many of the UK’s largest sectors as the usual year-end uplift failed to materialise. That said, wages grew consistently and remained resilient, even as opportunities shrank.
“It’s also encouraging to see signs of recovery in the Graduate and Entry-Level sectors, all of which had a turbulent 12 months. The UK job market may not be out of the woods yet, but early green shoots suggest employers may be looking to start 2026 afresh and empowered.”
