North West – UK Regional Labour Market Trends, March 2025
North West Labour Market Strains as Fiscal Pressures Mount
Key findings include:
- Professional vacancies in North West England fell 6.9% year-on-year in 2024 amid fiscal tightening
- Infrastructure, real estate and digital sectors offset declines in financial services and consumer goods
- Strategy, business development and operational roles outpaced support functions in hiring trends
- Top employers saw sharp divides, with infrastructure firms growing while banks retrenched
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Britain’s evolving fiscal and monetary policy left distinct imprints on its regional labour markets in late 2024. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s £40 billion tax plan, alongside a 15% employer National Insurance contribution from April 2025, raised hiring costs. Meanwhile, the Bank of England’s 4.5% base rate reinforced caution.
The North West saw professional vacancies spike to 3,181 in July 2024, up 42% month-on-month, and a further 59.5% surge to 3,050 in January 2025. Yet momentum faltered quickly. Vacancies in January and February 2025 were nearly 25% lower than a year earlier.
Full-year figures tell the same story: 31,802 vacancies posted in 2024, a 6.9% decline from 2023. London, by contrast, remained buoyant with a 5.4% rise to 145,366 roles. The figures reveal a widening regional resilience gap as some areas weather policy headwinds better than others.
Sectoral Realignments Redraw Demand Patterns
The broader UK professional job market in 2024 was reshaped by green energy, AI adoption, and changing work models. While technology remained the largest sector, IT vacancies fell 13.2% to 6,020. Engineering roles dropped by 13% to just under 4,000.
Marketing and PR proved more resilient, declining only 6% to 3,050 vacancies. Real estate, by contrast, surged. Property-related professional vacancies rose 26.5% to 2,431, reflecting higher infrastructure investment and housing incentives.
Meanwhile, human resources fell sharply, down 23.8%, suggesting the post-pandemic restructuring boom had peaked. Beneath the surface, strategic roles advanced: business development grew by 3.4% and operational management soared by 35%, underscoring a pivot towards growth, transformation, and organisational agility rather than internal maintenance.
Regional Growth Engines: Infrastructure, Property and Digital
In North West England, 2024’s hiring shifts reflected deeper structural changes. Real estate and construction became dominant, accounting for 18.8% of all professional vacancies, up from 16.9% in 2023. The industry posted 5,971 vacancies, supported by government-backed levelling-up projects.
Technology, media, and telecoms also gained momentum, rising 18.2% year-on-year to 5,709 vacancies. Notably, media vacancies surged 32.6%, reflecting the growing importance of digital content and hybrid work trends.
Professional services expanded 16% to 5,579 roles, gaining share amid sustained demand for legal and consultancy expertise. In contrast, financial services contracted by 25.3%, while consumer goods tumbled 32.3%. Banking was hardest hit, with a 32.4% decline in vacancies.
Overall, the regional economy tilted toward tangible assets, strategic advisory services, and digital expansion, while traditional consumer and financial sectors retrenched.
Company-Level Winners and Losers
Hiring trends among North West employers highlight the unevenness of recovery. Of the top twenty recruiters, thirteen posted fewer vacancies in 2024 compared to 2023.
BAE Systems remained the largest recruiter, but professional vacancies fell 35.6% to 1,063 roles amid global restructuring. In contrast, AECOM expanded aggressively, posting a 31.8% rise to 738 roles, buoyed by infrastructure investment. Jacobs, despite a 16.3% decline, remained active across national infrastructure projects.
In financial services, Davies recorded a 19.3% rise in vacancies, growing its digital and compliance operations. Barclays, however, suffered a steep 45.3% fall, aligning with broader banking sector consolidation.
Despite financial sector challenges, professional services and infrastructure-led firms now appear better positioned for future hiring resilience, signalling a structural realignment in the regional economy.
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