After a cautious couple of years, the picture is shifting. Permanent placements have finally stabilised, ending a decline that had run since Liz Truss's premiership 45 months earlier, while temporary billings rose for a fourth straight month, according to REC / KPMG Report on Jobs (S&P Global). That is the first genuine sign in nearly four years that the permanent market is finding a floor.
The tech corner of that market is where the movement is clearest. In the August to October 2025 period, the largest volume increase in vacancies came in professional, scientific and technical activities, which rose by 5,000, ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025. It is a modest number in isolation, but against a backdrop the Low Pay Commission described as a 'low hire, low fire' labour market, with vacancies still below pre-pandemic levels, a rise stands out Low Pay Commission Report 2025, GOV.UK.
So the reopening is real, but it is selective. Businesses took a cautious approach through a subdued 2025, yet demand hotspots persisted for specialist tech skills including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security, Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). For a lean team, that is the opening: the market is moving again, and it is moving towards exactly the specialists small teams need most.
The clearest signal is AI. Demand for AI skills increased by nearly 200% in a year, with London accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all UK technology vacancies, The Register (Accenture data). Cyber security is growing more steadily: there are roughly 143,000 people in the UK cyber workforce, with growth accelerating from 2% in 2022 to 5% in 2024, Cyber security skills in the UK labour market 2025 - GOV.UK.
The squeeze is at the other end of the ladder. The UK tech sector cut graduate jobs by 46% in the past year, with a further 53% drop projected, The Register. Adzuna has seen a 30% drop in UK entry-level postings since ChatGPT launched, leaving graduates with the toughest market since 2018, techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?. The gap shows up in the wider data too: entry-level hiring has fallen further than senior hiring across technical professions GOV.UK - A snapshot of entry-level hiring in the UK.
There is a rebalancing worth watching, though. In AI specifically, apprenticeships have risen from 3% of hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025, GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. For technical professions, most new hires still come from the resident labour force, which points to low reliance on international recruitment GOV.UK - Professionals in IT and engineering. The talent is here. The task is finding the right person quickly.
On a lean team, every hire carries more weight, so hire deliberately for the hotspots rather than broadly. The demand data points you towards AI, data, cyber security and enterprise applications Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026), so define the one problem the new person needs to solve before you write the advert. A sharper brief attracts sharper applicants.
Second, look past the graduate shortage. With entry-level tech postings down sharply techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?, teams are competing for experienced specialists, so consider growing your own: the rise of AI apprenticeships from 3% to 19% of hires shows structured routes into technical work are viable now GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. Blend a senior hire with an apprentice and you build capacity without over-stretching the payroll.
Speed matters most here. With permanent placements stabilising REC / KPMG Report on Jobs (S&P Global) and specialist demand climbing, the right person will not stay on the market long. A tight, well-structured process protects a lean team from a slow, drawn-out search.
We built Reed.ai to help small teams hire the right specialist without the process taking over their week. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. The value is simple: finding the right person for a lean team, with the whole search managed for you. If permanent hiring is reopening for your team, start a search with us today and see who we surface.
