Year in Review – UK Telecom Labour Market Trends Report, January 2026
UK telecom hiring reaches a turning point after rapid 5G investment
Key findings include:
- Telecom vacancies rose 6.3% in 2025 despite consolidation pressures.
- London hiring increased 15.2%, widening the regional divide.
- Engineering roles grew 22.4% as networks shift toward optimisation.
- HR vacancies surged 46.7% amid restructuring and merger activity.
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Telecom hiring reaches a turning point
Hiring across the UK telecoms sector strengthened in 2025, with professional vacancies rising 6.3% year on year. Demand remained robust during the first half of the year, supported by continued fibre deployment and sustained investment in 5G infrastructure. As the year progressed, however, momentum began to soften as the industry shifted from rapid expansion towards consolidation and tighter cost control.
Recruitment activity peaked in early summer, with vacancies rising 18% between May and June. Hiring remained strong throughout the third quarter, then eased in the final months of the year. By December, vacancies had fallen by 19.6% month-on-month, highlighting a sector entering a more selective phase of recruitment.
Regional hiring becomes increasingly uneven
Regional hiring trends reveal a telecoms labour market that is becoming more uneven. London strengthened its position as the sector’s primary hiring hub, with vacancies rising 15.2% year on year. High-value functions such as network strategy, cybersecurity and regulatory engagement remain heavily concentrated in the capital.
Elsewhere, performance varied considerably. Scotland recorded strong growth, with vacancies rising 23.3%, while the East of England posted the fastest expansion nationally at 31.1%. The North East also grew strongly, increasing 25.7%, while Wales and Northern Ireland saw vacancies rise by 13.4% and 24.4% respectively. By contrast, the North West and West Midlands experienced sharp contractions of 16.2% and 31.9% as network build activity slowed.
Demand shifts toward transformation and enterprise skills
As large-scale network deployments begin to mature, telecom employers are increasingly prioritising transformation and technology-led roles. IT professionals remained the largest hiring category, with vacancies rising 10.2% year-on-year as operators invested further in cloud-native networks, cybersecurity, and AI-enabled monitoring.
Engineering roles also expanded strongly, rising 22.4% as firms focused on network resilience, systems integration and performance optimisation. Sales roles grew by 6.9%, with B2B sales increasing 10.1% as operators expanded into enterprise services and private networks. By contrast, marketing vacancies declined sharply, falling 20.8% as companies prioritised operational delivery over customer acquisition.
Employer hiring strategies begin to diverge
Recruitment strategies among telecom employers became increasingly mixed in 2025. BT reduced hiring by 23% as part of its ongoing cost reduction programme and broader automation strategy. Fibre challenger CityFibre also scaled back recruitment significantly, with vacancies falling 36.8% as consolidation pressures intensified across the alternative network provider market.
Other companies expanded more selectively. Arqiva increased hiring by 11.5%, supported by continued demand for broadcast resilience and national connectivity infrastructure. Meanwhile the Vodafone–Three merger led to a temporary pause in recruitment as the combined group focused on integration and operational streamlining. As consolidation progresses, demand is expected to shift toward specialists in Open RAN, network strategy and integration.
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