TL;DR
UK job postings are in a sustained decline. MORT's ATS feed tracked 7,524 new UK listings in the week of 19-26 June 2026. Indeed's June 2026 data puts UK postings 13% below year-ago levels and 32% below the pre-pandemic baseline. The ONS reports UK vacancies at their lowest level since 2021. Fewer postings means more competition per role; targeting fit and applying fast matters more than it did two years ago. This is part of the MORT Job Market Report.
What the live data shows: 7,524 new UK listings this week
MORT's ATS feed aggregates job postings directly from company career sites - Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, SmartRecruiters, Pinpoint, JazzHR, Recruitee, and others - rather than scraping job board aggregators. In the 7-day window ending 26 June 2026, the feed recorded 7,524 new listings from UK-based employers.
The preceding 7-day window (ending 24 June) showed 10,207 UK listings. The two windows overlap substantially - they share roughly five days - so the difference reflects primarily the two days that rolled in and the two days that rolled out at each end, not a clean week-on-week comparison. The directional signal, however, is consistent with every external data source available for the same period.
How to read this data
Country totals come from the full feed (all 101,782 listings this week). Role categories, remote policy, and salary figures come from a 1,000-job sample of the same window. MORT's feed skews toward tech-adjacent and professional services employers; it will under-represent sectors like education, retail, and public sector relative to the whole UK labour market.
The broader picture: three independent sources confirm the decline
The MORT data is a single direct-ATS signal. Three independent sources tell the same story at the macro level:
| Source | What they show | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Indeed Hiring Lab UK | UK postings down ~5% in June; -13% year-on-year; 32% below pre-pandemic baseline (vs US/euro area at or above baseline) | June 2026 |
| ONS UK Vacancies | UK vacancies fell to 707,000 in March-May 2026 - lowest level since February-April 2021; unemployment rose to 5.2% | March-May 2026 |
| People Management | Staffing expectations eased for a second consecutive month; employer caution driven by cost pressures and automation | 2026 to date |
Sources are independent of each other and of MORT. The ONS uses survey-based vacancy counts; Indeed tracks job board postings; MORT tracks direct ATS postings. All three point in the same direction.
The UK's position relative to peers is the sharpest part of the Indeed data. While the US and euro area job posting counts have recovered to or above their February 2020 baseline, UK postings are still 32% below it - a gap that has widened rather than closed over the past year.
UK vs other major markets in MORT's feed
Within MORT's monitored feed, the UK's decline stands out against a broadly flat total. The US gained ground while the UK lost it.
| Country | New listings (19-26 Jun) | New listings (17-24 Jun) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 49,039 | 45,986 | +6.6% |
| United Kingdom | 7,524 | 10,207 | -26.3% |
| Germany | 4,359 | 4,849 | -10.1% |
| France | 3,986 | 4,126 | -3.4% |
| Canada | 3,307 | 3,406 | -2.9% |
| India | 2,872 | 2,979 | -3.6% |
From MORT's full ATS feed. The two 7-day windows overlap by approximately 5 days; the UK delta reflects primarily the days that rolled in and out at each end, not a clean week-on-week swap. The directional decline is consistent with external market data. Germany and Ireland also fell; the US and Spain gained.
The UK was 10% of MORT's monitored feed in the prior run; it is now 7.4%. The US moved from 45% to 48.2%. That rebalancing within the same overall volume reflects a genuine divergence between the two markets, confirmed by the external sources above.
Why UK hiring is contracting
The Indeed and People Management data point to several converging factors:
- Employer National Insurance increase (April 2026). The secondary NI rate rose and the threshold at which employers start paying fell, materially increasing the cost per employee. Several large employers flagged this as a reason to slow headcount growth before the change took effect.
- Persistent cost pressures. According to the People Management briefing, staffing expectations have eased for a second consecutive month, with firms balancing recruitment needs against persistent cost pressures and increased automation.
- Structural rather than cyclical. UK postings are 32% below their February 2020 baseline, significantly underperforming the US and euro area recoveries. That gap suggests structural issues (employer cost base, economic confidence) rather than a temporary dip.
The ONS vacancy data reinforces this. Total UK vacancies fell to 707,000 in March-May 2026 - the lowest since February-April 2021 - while the unemployment rate climbed to 5.2%. More people looking for work, fewer roles available.
Which sectors are still hiring in the UK
Not every sector is contracting. According to Indeed's June 2026 UK Labour Market Update, the occupational categories currently bucking the posting decline include:
- Industrial engineering
- IT systems & solutions
- Arts & entertainment
- Veterinary
The vast majority of occupational categories have seen posting declines. That makes the sectors above worth targeting for UK job seekers: the role volume is there in relative terms, and the headwinds facing other categories reduce competition for candidates with the right skills.
Within MORT's feed globally this week, Software Engineering moved to the top role category at 11.5% of the sample (up from 9.7% last week), with Skilled Trades & Field Roles rising sharply to 9.4% (from 6.5%). Note: these are global figures from a 1,000-job sample of the full feed, not UK-specific breakdowns.
What this means for UK job seekers right now
The math is straightforward: fewer postings and more candidates (unemployment at 5.2%) means more competition per open role. Four adjustments that respond to that directly:
- Apply faster. Data shows you are 8x more likely to get an interview if you apply within 24 hours of a posting appearing. In a tighter market, where early movers get screened before the pile-up, this matters more than it did in a high-volume market.
- Target fit, not volume. When there are fewer roles to apply to, applying to more of them is not the answer; applying to the right ones is. Roles that match your background closely have materially higher conversion rates than generic applications. MORT is an AI job-matching platform that scans thousands of company career pages, scores every job 0-100% for compatibility with your skills and experience, and generates a tailored CV for each application.
- Look beyond the posting itself. The sectors still hiring (IT systems, industrial engineering) may be posting on specialist boards or directly on company career pages rather than the large aggregators. Direct ATS postings often appear before they surface on job boards.
- Consider the wider market. MORT's feed shows US and European postings rising or holding steady while UK postings fell. If you are open to remote or hybrid roles at non-UK companies, the addressable market is substantially larger than the domestic UK figure.
Frequently asked questions
How many job postings are there in the UK right now?
MORT's direct ATS feed tracked 7,524 new UK-based job listings in the 7-day window ending 26 June 2026. Those come from company career sites (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, SmartRecruiters, and others), not job board aggregators. The ONS reported total UK vacancies at 707,000 in March-May 2026, the lowest level since February-April 2021.
Why are UK job vacancies falling in 2026?
UK employers are holding back on hiring due to a combination of cost pressures, economic uncertainty, and rising employer National Insurance contributions from April 2026. Indeed's Hiring Lab reports UK postings are down 13% year-on-year and 32% below the pre-pandemic baseline - a sharper decline than in the US or euro area. Staffing expectations have eased for a second consecutive month and the unemployment rate has risen to 5.2%.
Which sectors are still hiring in the UK?
According to Indeed's June 2026 UK Labour Market Update, the sectors bucking the posting decline include industrial engineering, IT systems and solutions, arts and entertainment, and veterinary. Most other occupational categories have seen posting declines.
Is now a good time to look for a job in the UK?
It is a tighter market than 2021-2022, but 7,500+ new UK listings per week through direct company ATS feeds shows active hiring is still happening. The key shift: with fewer postings, competition per role is higher. Applying early (within 24-48 hours) and targeting roles that genuinely fit your background matters more when the pool of listings is smaller.
How does the UK job market compare to the US right now?
Significantly weaker. In MORT's ATS feed for the week of 19-26 June 2026, the US had 49,039 new listings while the UK had 7,524 - a ratio of roughly 6.5:1. Indeed's data shows US postings at or above pre-pandemic baseline, while UK postings are 32% below it. The US added 172,000 jobs in May 2026 (BLS); the UK unemployment rate has risen to 5.2%.
Find the roles in the UK that match your background
In a tighter market, fit matters more than volume. MORT is an AI job-matching platform that scans thousands of company career pages, scores every job 0-100% for compatibility with your skills and experience, and generates a tailored CV for each application - so you apply to fewer roles with higher conversion, not more roles with lower.
Sources
- MORT Job Market Data, week of 19-26 June 2026 (MORT ATS feed, proprietary - aggregated from Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, SmartRecruiters, Pinpoint, JazzHR, Recruitee, and other ATS platforms). Full snapshot:
artifacts/docs/market-data/2026-W26b.md - Indeed Hiring Lab UK, "June 2026 UK Labour Market Update: Job Postings Continue to Slide" (June 2026): hiringlab.org
- Office for National Statistics, "Vacancies and jobs in the UK: June 2026" (707,000 vacancies, lowest since 2021): ons.gov.uk
- Office for National Statistics, "Employment in the UK: June 2026" (unemployment rate 5.2%): ons.gov.uk
- People Management, "2026 labour market trends: hiring slowdown and AI disruption": peoplemanagement.co.uk
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary - May 2026 (172,000 jobs added): bls.gov