UK job postings drop 16.8% in December amid Christmas slowdown
UK job postings drop 16.8% in December amid Christmas slowdown

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The number of new job postings in the UK stood at 550,982, down by 16.8% on last month, reflecting the annual Christmas slowdown, according to the latest Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast Labour Market Tracker.
For December, the Tracker showed that the number of overall active postings was 1,415,574. This continues a trend of moderation back to pre-pandemic levels. In December 2019, the number of active job postings was 1.41 million.
“December is always a recruitment low point, so we will have to wait for January and February figures to judge where we are as firms return to the market in 2025,” REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry said in a press release. “Despite a long slowdown in demand, the fact that we are only returning to pre-pandemic norms now shows that there are still opportunities out there for job seekers, who skilled recruiters are ready to help with their next step.”
As expected, and as the industry has seen for the past few years December is the slowest month for posting jobs roles. This happens as most industries wind down in December for the festive period.
Across driving and logistics, the sector had an 8.1% decrease in the number of job postings in December 2024 as compared to November 2024.
When comparing November 2024 to December 2024, the most in-demand roles are the 49.5% increase in job postings for train and tram drivers, 14.4% increase for crane drivers, and 6.2 % increase in directors in logistics, warehousing and transport job postings.
In hospitality and catering, there were nearly 79,000 job postings in December 2024. This is a 15.7% decline from November 2024. Catering and bar managers saw a 2.5% uptick, restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors fell by 4.1%, and hotel and accommodation managers and proprietors saw a fall of 4.2%.
In December 2024 there were over 156,000 job postings in the retail sector. This is a decline of 12.1% as compared to November 2024.
Most roles in the retail sector saw a marginal decline in job postings, including managers and proprietors in other services n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified) (-2.0%) and managers and directors in retail and wholesale (-2.6%). While there is still a decrease, this is well below the sector average of -12.1%.
The biggest decreases were found in sales and retail assistants (-24.7%) and retail cashiers and check-out operators (-25.5%).
“We anticipate that a return to growth this year will drive business confidence to hire and invest,” Carberry said. “Firms will be looking to the chancellor to underpin this confidence in her interventions later in the month. At the moment, government policy feels like more of a hindrance than a help in getting employment rates up.”
Central Bedfordshire (26.3%), Devon CC (4.5%) and East Sussex CC (4.5%) showed the highest increase in job postings.
Four of the top 10 counties that had the highest increase in job postings were based in the South East: East Sussex CC (4.5%), East Surrey (2.8%), Portsmouth (2.3%) and West Sussex [North East] (1.3%). Despite some pockets of growth, the Southeast as a region saw a 4.0% decline overall in job postings.
Whereas Dudley (-14.6%), East Dunbartonshire (-15.1%) and Ealing (-15.5%) all accounted for the sharpest decline in job postings.
The Tracker said the story of 2024 was new job postings for IT and some accounting-related occupations were down dramatically in 2024, compared to 2023. In contrast, hospitality and leisure occupations’ new job postings were down only a little in 2024, compared to 2023.
Medical work was varied with only a small decline in new job postings in 2024, compared to 2023, for roles such as some types of psychologists, roles in specialist medical tasks such as surgery, anaesthetisation and diagnostic or interventional radiology, and dental nurses, Whereas there was a far more dramatic decline in new job postings in 2024, compared to 2023, for registered mental health nurses, some registered nursing professionals and generalist medical practitioners.