Hiring across the UK is under pressure, and financial services feels it as much as anyone. The KPMG/REC UK Report on Jobs showed permanent staff appointments fell at the quickest rate in four months at the end of 2025, extending the downturn to 39 months REC – Report on Jobs: hiring activity declines at end of 2025. That is more than three years of contraction. When employer confidence is this thin, every pound of hiring budget has to earn its place.
It isn't all decline. The Office for National Statistics found that in August to October 2025, the largest volume increase in vacancies was in the professional, scientific and technical activities sector, which rose by 5,000 ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025. Pockets of demand are still there. The problem is that most firms can't say which of their hiring channels is actually reaching those people, and which is quietly wasting money.
The entry point into finance is narrowing fast. Adzuna has seen a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT's launch, with graduates facing the toughest job market since 2018 techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?. For financial services firms that have long relied on graduate pipelines to build future analysts, risk specialists and relationship managers, that shift changes the whole picture of where talent comes from.
At the same time, the way firms bring people in is broadening. GOV.UK's AI Labour Market Survey found apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. More routes in means more sources to track. If you can't attribute a hire to the channel that produced it, you can't tell whether your apprenticeship route, your job board spend or your referrals are the ones actually working.
Start by measuring the right thing. Applications and clicks feel like progress, but they don't pay off unless they turn into hires. Candidate attribution means tracing every hire back to its true source, so you know which channel delivered the person who signed, not just the person who applied. In a market where digital roles keep growing, that discipline matters: GOV.UK's Digital Sector Employment estimates track filled jobs across the UK digital sector, a reminder that finance now competes for the same technical talent as tech firms GOV.UK / DSIT – Digital Sector Economic Estimates: Employment.
Then act on what the data shows. Cut the sources that produce noise. Double down on the ones that produce hires. Move faster on the roles you know are competitive, because in a tight market the best people are gone quickly. Attribution turns hiring from guesswork into a plan you can defend to the finance team, which is exactly the conversation financial services leaders respect.
This is where we come in. We search a database of 15 million candidates and rank a shortlist in under 30 seconds, so you see who is a genuine match before you spend anything. Because we work on a single 8% fee on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, the economics line up with attribution: you pay when a hire lands, and you can see exactly where that hire came from. Compare that with the typical 15 to 25% agency fee and the case gets clearer still. If you want cleaner hiring data and a faster shortlist, try Reed.ai on your next financial services role.
