The North West enters 2026 from a position of relative strength, following a 7.7% increase in vacancies in 2025. However, that growth was far from smooth. Hiring peaked in March, rising 19.2% month-on-month, before falling 16.0% by August. Despite these swings, overall demand remained resilient, with the region accounting for 55.1% of all northern vacancies.
AI is the topic that is seemingly all around us, with that, this week we hosted a session with Mercury CRM where we profiled how it is now starting to change the job market.
The UK’s data and AI labour market reached record levels in 2025, with vacancies rising 18.4% year-on-year as businesses moved beyond pilot programmes and began integrating AI into core workflows at scale. Annualised 2026 figures point to a further 13.2% increase, with January and February already posting year-on-year growth of 20.0% and 31.7% respectively. If current trends continue, one in four jobs in the sector will have been created in the last two years, a pace of growth unmatched by virtually any other part of the UK economy.
Regulatory affairs hiring across UK life sciences contracted in 2025 as multinational pharmaceutical firms implemented widespread restructuring. London absorbed the majority of cuts, with vacancies falling by 29.3%, reflecting reductions concentrated at headquarters. Across the rest of the UK, hiring proved more resilient, declining by 7.7% while increasing its share of demand.
The UK Internal Audit labour market expanded noticeably in 2025, reflecting stronger demand for governance and assurance capabilities across financial institutions. Total UK vacancies increased from 376 in 2024 to 445 in 2025, an 18% rise that indicates a clear improvement in hiring momentum throughout the year.
