Advertised pay
£40,750.00
£39,145.05 in real terms (inflation-adjusted)
+7.2% vs Q2 2024
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Q2 2025 Jobs Market Report
Advertised pay rose 7.2% and hiring activity we tracked fell 45.3% compared with Q2 2024.
Hiring activity we tracked
96% permanent / 4% contract
-45.3% vs Q2 2024
vs Q1 2025
Pay -3.3%, hiring activity -6.3%
Advertised permanent pay pushed higher even as the volume of tracked hiring activity fell sharply, with construction gaining share and IT losing ground within the mix.
Advertised permanent pay climbs
+7.2%
Advertised permanent pay rose notably compared with the same period a year earlier. A rise of this scale can reflect a shift toward higher-paying roles within the mix as much as broad-based wage growth, especially set against a period of falling overall tracked activity.
Tracked hiring activity contracts sharply
-45.3%
The overall volume of hiring activity we tracked fell substantially versus the prior comparison period. A decline of this size points to a materially cooler hiring environment, even as pay for the listings that remain has held up or improved.
Construction expands its share of activity
+3.13 pts
Construction's share of tracked hiring activity increased by a wide margin, one of the largest gains of any sector this period. This suggests construction became a relatively larger part of the hiring mix even as total tracked activity contracted elsewhere.
IT's share of hiring activity slips
-4 pts
IT remains by far the largest single sector in the tracked mix, but its share pulled back noticeably this period. A retreat of this size in the dominant sector carries more weight for the overall mix than similar moves in smaller sectors.
AI-related titles remain a small niche
+0.9%
Listings with an explicitly AI-related job title made up only a small sliver of the tracked mix this period. Despite the attention AI hiring attracts, it has yet to register as a meaningfully sized category within advertised roles.
Isle of Wight sees an outsized jump in activity
+791.6%
Tracked hiring activity in Isle of Wight rose by an exceptionally large margin compared with the prior period, among the sharpest increases of any area covered. Given the smaller base of tracked jobs in this location, a jump of this scale is more sensitive to individual employer decisions than the same move would be in a larger region.
Watch whether the pay/volume divergence persists next quarter — rising pay alongside falling tracked activity could reflect a smaller pool of higher-value roles rather than broad wage growth — and whether construction's gains and IT's pullback continue or reverse.
Sector movers
Change in each sector's share of the hiring activity we tracked, Q2 2024 to Q2 2025.
Growing
- Construction+3.1% pts
- Accounting+1.7% pts
- Environmental+1.4% pts
Shrinking
- IT-4.0% pts
- Recruitment-1.4% pts
- Banking-1.0% pts
Monthly trend
Within Q2 2025, hiring activity we tracked peaked in April 2025 (dark green below) and was quietest in June 2025 (dark red below).
Based on job listings and advertised salaries we track across the UK. Figures are indicative trends, not a full census of the UK jobs market.