The wider UK labour market has cooled. The Low Pay Commission describes conditions as 'low hire, low fire', with weaker recruitment, only slight increases in redundancies and vacancies now sitting below pre-pandemic levels Low Pay Commission Report 2025, GOV.UK. For banks, that means a smaller pool of active movers and a stronger case for reaching people who are not scrolling job boards every day.
It is not all quiet. The ONS reports that the largest volume increase in vacancies over August to October 2025 came in professional, scientific and technical activities, which rose by 5,000 ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025. Demand for specialist skills is holding up even where general hiring has slowed, and client onboarding sits squarely in that specialist category.
There is also a squeeze on the traditional feeder route into financial services. Adzuna data shows a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT launched, with graduates facing the toughest market since 2018 techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?. If banks want a pipeline of junior onboarding analysts in two years, the decisions they make about early-career hiring today matter.
Client onboarding is not one job. It runs from KYC analysts and due diligence specialists through to onboarding managers and quality assurance reviewers, plus the technology and data people who keep the checks running. Each needs a different blend of regulatory knowledge, attention to detail and client-facing communication.
Two forces are reshaping these roles. First, automation is changing the day job. Demand for AI skills in the UK rose nearly 200% in a year, with London accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings The Register (Accenture data). Onboarding teams increasingly work alongside models that flag risk, so newer hires need to interpret and challenge automated output, not just process it.
Second, the way people enter these careers is shifting. In AI hiring, apprenticeships have grown from 3% of hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. Banks that treat apprenticeships and structured training as a serious route can build onboarding talent rather than only competing for it.
Start with a sharp brief. Write down the regulatory frameworks the person will work within, the systems they will use and the client interactions they will handle. Separate what someone must know on day one from what you can train. A clear brief shortens every later step and helps you assess people on evidence rather than impression.
Assess judgement, not just knowledge. Onboarding work is full of grey areas: an incomplete document, an unusual ownership structure, a client under time pressure. Use short, realistic case exercises so you can see how someone reasons and how clearly they explain a decision. That protects you where hard-to-fill specialist roles are common; a comparison with the Cyber Security Skills 2024 report found 70% of cyber firms reported at least one hard-to-fill vacancy AI Labour Market Survey 2025 (Gardiner & Theobald), GOV.UK / publishing.service.gov.uk, and the same specialist-skills pressure shows up across regulated functions.
Move quickly and stay consistent. In a 'low hire' market the good people still get multiple approaches, so a slow, disorganised process loses them. Agree your scorecard, your interviewers and your timeline before you open the role, and give every applicant the same structured questions. Speed and fairness are not in tension; a tight process delivers both.
Protect the early-career pipeline. With entry-level postings down sharply techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?, banks that keep hiring and training junior onboarding analysts now will have experienced due diligence specialists later, when competitors are trying to buy them in.
When you are ready to fill a client onboarding role, we search a database of 15 million candidates to surface people who match your brief, then rank a shortlist for you in under 30 seconds. We handle the process end to end, from matching and outreach to booking interviews, so your team stays focused on the regulatory judgement calls only they can make.
Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. Tell Reed.ai about your next onboarding role and see your shortlist today.
