UK permanent placements post their strongest growth in four years — but the recovery stays fragile
The News
The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs, compiled by S&P Global from a panel of around 400 recruitment consultancies, recorded a second consecutive monthly rise in permanent placements in September — the strongest in four years — alongside a marginal rise in temporary billings. Both indices stood at 50.9, above the 50 no-change mark. Vacancies fell at their softest rate since August 2024, and private-sector permanent vacancies grew for the first time in over two years. Pay growth eased, with permanent salary inflation slowing for the first time in four months.
Why It Matters
This is the first genuine sign in two years that UK hiring demand is turning. The last sustained run of permanent placement growth ran from March 2021 to September 2022, so a second month of expansion is a signal worth acting on rather than a trend to bank. The caution is in the detail: candidate availability is still rising sharply — driven by redundancies and fewer opportunities — which keeps the balance of power with employers, and pay growth is softening even as demand firms. If you have been holding vacancies open, the window to secure scarce skills on favourable terms may be narrowing faster than headline sentiment suggests.
Taking Action
All action is situated in your corporate context. These are starting points, not prescriptions — choose what fits.
Connect
Who to talk with in your enterprise
Your finance business partner and your head of talent analytics, before the Budget on 30 October. Rising placements with softening pay is your case to lock in critical hires now — while the market still favours the employer — rather than waiting for post-Budget certainty. Compare your fill rates against the sector split: IT & Computing and Engineering led September's permanent demand, while London temporary billings fell sharply.
Inspect
What to take a closer look at
Your time-to-fill and salary-benchmark assumptions for Q4. If demand is genuinely turning, the pay-growth slowdown you have relied on to keep offers flat may not hold. Re-check compensation bands for IT & Computing and Engineering against current market data, and review whether your open roles in the North of England — the region that led September's placement growth — are being priced and sourced as aggressively as London ones.
Reflect
What to think about more deeply
Two months of growth and the word "recovery" is already out — is the UK labour market actually recovering, or are we simply relieved to see any upward number after a two-year drought?