August brought a sharp rise in UK job seekers flooding the market, driven by mounting redundancies and growing anxiety over employment security across the country.
Total staff availability climbed at its fastest rate in three months, with British workers actively hunting for new roles in significantly higher numbers than in previous months.
The surge was fuelled by ongoing corporate layoffs and deepening insecurity among workers already in employment, according to the latest report from KPMG and recruiter REC.
Against that backdrop, permanent job placements registered a marginal but meaningful improvement, with the index reading 50.5, breaking above the neutral 50.0 threshold for the first time since September 2022.
That reading marks the first indication of growth in permanent hiring in nearly four years, offering a rare positive signal in an otherwise difficult labour market landscape.
Temporary billings expanded further to 52.4, reflecting a preference among cautious employers for flexible, short-term contracts rather than committing to long-term headcount additions.
Jon Holt, group chief executive and UK senior partner at KPMG, acknowledged the significance of the shift but urged caution about reading too much into a single month of data.
“This is clearly encouraging after such a prolonged downturn in hiring, but the jobs market continues to contract overall,” Holt said, striking a measured tone on the latest figures.
Holt also noted that with the first Budget for Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey approaching, the government has an “opportunity to turn these green shoots into sustained positive momentum.”
Despite the lift in permanent placements, overall demand for workers fell for the 34th consecutive month, pushing nationwide ONS vacancies down to 707,000, the lowest non-pandemic level since November 2014.
Retail and hospitality suffered the steepest declines in job openings, while public sector labour demand contracted across both permanent and temporary roles during the period.
Maxine Bligh, interim chief executive of REC, warned against complacency, saying: “This is not the time to take the job market for granted. Instead, government should follow through on its commitment to lessen burdens on business.”
Bligh argued that improving momentum across the jobs market required “greater pragmatism on the employment rights agenda, including lessening the gamble the government is taking with its guaranteed hours policy.”
She added that progress also means “delivering an Autumn Budget that demonstrates the government is serious about backing business and provides employers with the confidence they need to hire, invest and grow.”