The market is selective, not slow. Employers are hiring for specific gaps rather than growing headcount across the board. The KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs June 2026 tracks this shift month to month, and the wider picture from the ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025 shows the biggest volume increase in vacancies between August and October 2025 sat in the professional, scientific and technical activities sector, up by 5,000.
For finance leaders, that means the roles that get funded are the ones tied to revenue and control. Product control sits at that intersection. When a firm opens a new desk or launches a product line, it needs people to value the book, explain the profit and loss, and satisfy the regulator. So a rise in these postings tells you where the business is putting its next bet, often before the trading and sales hires appear.
Watch three signals together. First, specialist demand is concentrating. Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026) notes that against a subdued 2025 backdrop, firms hired cautiously but kept clear demand hotspots for AI, data and specialist skills. Finance mirrors that: control, valuation and data roles get funded while general hiring pauses.
Second, location matters. London still pulls the weight of technical demand. The Register (Accenture data) found London accounted for nearly two-thirds of all UK technology vacancies, and finance product and control functions concentrate in the same square miles.
Third, the entry pipeline is thin. techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs? shows a 30% drop in UK entry-level postings since late 2022, and The Register recorded a 46% cut in tech graduate roles in a year. Fewer junior openings means firms compete harder for people who can already run a control function. So when product control postings climb, they point to real growth, and to a shortage of ready talent to fill them.
Move fast on the roles that signal growth, and be precise about the skills. In-demand technical occupations are already stretched. Occupations in demand 2025, Explore Education Statistics, GOV.UK lists IT business analysts, architects and systems designers among occupations in critical demand, and product control leans on exactly this blend of finance and data skill.
Widen how you build the team. The GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report shows apprenticeships rising from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025, a reminder that growing your own talent works when the external market is tight. Pair that with sharp shortlisting for senior control hires, so you spend interview time on people who can genuinely do the job from day one.
Finally, read your own postings as data. If product control roles are stacking up around one desk or one product, that is your firm telling you where it is heading. Plan the hiring plan around that signal rather than reacting role by role.
We built Reed.ai to help you act on those growth signals quickly. We search a database of 15 million people, surface a ranked shortlist in under 30 seconds, and manage recruitment end to end so your control functions get the right person while the desk is still building. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. Ready to fill your next product control role? Start today.
