Job market sees modest growth

Latest findings show some growth within the job market, with highly skilled sectors seeing a bounce back compared to previous months.

Job postings on the up

While employers have slightly held back on hiring in recent months, figures now show a rise in active job postings.

The latest Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast Labour Market Tracker found that in January 2026, the number of job postings stood at more than 1.4 million – this represents a 3% increase from December 2025.

While this is positive news, active job postings were down 5.62% compared to January 2025.

Highly skilled sectors bouncing back

The report also revealed that some highly skilled sectors have experienced a real bounce back at the start of 2026.

IT

There were 79,939 unique job postings in January 2026, which is an increase of 7.5% from December 2025.

The most in‑demand sectors comparing January 2026 to December 2025, were:

• Web Design Professionals (14.5%)
• IT Business Analysts, Architects and Systems Designers (12.4%)
• IT Project Managers (12.1%)

Engineering

Despite a dip at the end of 2025, the engineering sector has now seen an increase of 6.65% since December last year, with January seeing a total of 126,486 vacancies.

The most in‑demand roles when comparing December 2025 to January 2026 were:

• Building and Civil Engineering Technicians (23.5%)
• Pipe Fitters (19.1%)
• Sheet Metal Workers (15.7%)

Finance

The finance sector had a total of 409,500 unique job postings in January 2026, an increase of 4.4% from December 2025.

The occupations with the largest increases in job postings comparing January 2026 to December 2025 were:

• Collector Salespersons and Credit Agents (35.3%)
• Stock Control Clerks and Assistants (14.2%)
• Financial Administrative Occupations n.e.c. (14.2%)

To find out more about contracting, please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.