The job market has seen consistent demand this spring with postings across the first quarter of the year showing resilience, although at a lower level than previous years.

According to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast monthly labour market tracker, there were some signs of momentum in the economy that may push back against the effects of rising costs – such as the increase in employers’ national insurance payments.

Pay awards

Budget costs lead to lower 2025 pay awards

Pay deals stuck at 4% in October 

CIPD: Public sector workers enjoy post-budget pay boost

The number of new job postings in the UK was 749,311 and the overall number of active job postings in March 2025 was 1,583,465– an increase of 2.3% on the number of job postings in February 2025.

Along with the increase in the National Minimum Wage, the rise in NI will test the stabilising of the job market, expects the REC.

With last week’s more positive economic growth numbers for February, with growth across all the main sectors, there are some signs of momentum in the economy that may push back against the effects of rising costs. At least before the sudden triggering of global tariff trade negotiations by the US in April 2025.

!function(e,n,i,s){var d="InfogramEmbeds";var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&window[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,"script","infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");

REC chief executive Neil Carberry said there was no denying it feels tough to employ people as the cost of taking workers on increased, “but businesses are resilient, and they continue to create opportunities.

“With a steady 1.6 million active job adverts out there, employers are seeing glimmers of hope. The labour market is stabilising and February’s economic growth figures offered cautious optimism, while the UK looks relatively well-placed to weather some of the external shocks from shifting global trade policy.”

However, employer confidence remained fragile and ministers needed to do more to support growth with its upcoming industrial strategy, and by showing it is listening to business concerns about the way the Employment Rights Bill will work, said Carberry.

The labour market tracker showed a marked increase in job postings this month for farmers (39.8%), delivery drivers and couriers (39.6%) and rail construction and maintenance operatives (29.1%).

Of the top 10 counties that had the highest increase in job postings nine were in Scotland and Wales.

With the National Education Union (NEU) holding its annual conference this week, the REC/Lightcast report today shows 25,896 adverts for secondary education teaching professionals in March 2025 – up 5.8% on February 2025 – and 17,653 adverts for primary education teaching professionals – up 9.6% on February 2025.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required) OptOut From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.EmailThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

/* = 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_129');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_129').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! is_redirect && ! is_confirmation;var mt = parseInt(jQuery('html').css('margin-top'), 10) + parseInt(jQuery('body').css('margin-top'), 10) + 100;if(is_form){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').html(form_content.html());if(form_content.hasClass('gform_validation_error')){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').addClass('gform_validation_error');} else {jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').removeClass('gform_validation_error');}setTimeout( function() { /* delay the scroll by 50 milliseconds to fix a bug in chrome */ }, 50 );if(window['gformInitDatepicker']) {gformInitDatepicker();}if(window['gformInitPriceFields']) {gformInitPriceFields();}var current_page = jQuery('#gform_source_page_number_129').val();gformInitSpinner( 129, 'https://www.personneltoday.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery(document).trigger('gform_page_loaded', [129, current_page]);window['gf_submitting_129'] = false;}else if(!is_redirect){var confirmation_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('.GF_AJAX_POSTBACK').html();if(!confirmation_content){confirmation_content = contents;}jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').replaceWith(confirmation_content);jQuery(document).trigger('gform_confirmation_loaded', [129]);window['gf_submitting_129'] = false;wp.a11y.speak(jQuery('#gform_confirmation_message_129').text());}else{jQuery('#gform_129').append(contents);if(window['gformRedirect']) {gformRedirect();}}jQuery(document).trigger("gform_pre_post_render", [{ formId: "129", currentPage: "current_page", abort: function() { this.preventDefault(); } }]); if (event && event.defaultPrevented) { return; } const gformWrapperDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_wrapper_129" ); if ( gformWrapperDiv ) { const visibilitySpan = document.createElement( "span" ); visibilitySpan.id = "gform_visibility_test_129"; gformWrapperDiv.insertAdjacentElement( "afterend", visibilitySpan ); } const visibilityTestDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_visibility_test_129" ); let postRenderFired = false; function triggerPostRender() { if ( postRenderFired ) { return; } postRenderFired = true; jQuery( document ).trigger( 'gform_post_render', [129, current_page] ); gform.utils.trigger( { event: 'gform/postRender', native: false, data: { formId: 129, currentPage: current_page } } ); if ( visibilityTestDiv ) { visibilityTestDiv.parentNode.removeChild( visibilityTestDiv ); } } function debounce( func, wait, immediate ) { var timeout; return function() { var context = this, args = arguments; var later = function() { timeout = null; if ( !immediate ) func.apply( context, args ); }; var callNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout( timeout ); timeout = setTimeout( later, wait ); if ( callNow ) func.apply( context, args ); }; } const debouncedTriggerPostRender = debounce( function() { triggerPostRender(); }, 200 ); if ( visibilityTestDiv && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent === null ) { const observer = new MutationObserver( ( mutations ) => { mutations.forEach( ( mutation ) => { if ( mutation.type === 'attributes' && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent !== null ) { debouncedTriggerPostRender(); observer.disconnect(); } }); }); observer.observe( document.body, { attributes: true, childList: false, subtree: true, attributeFilter: [ 'style', 'class' ], }); } else { triggerPostRender(); } } );} ); /* ]]> */

 

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more human resources jobs