The picture is cautious but far from flat. Against a subdued 2025 economic backdrop, businesses took a careful approach to hiring, yet there were clear demand hotspots for specialist skills in AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). So the market rewards employers who know exactly what they are hiring for.
That specialist pull shows up in the vacancy data too. 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. Demand for AI skills alone increased by nearly 200% in a year, with London accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings The Register (Accenture data).
The wider labour market is best described as low hire, low fire: weaker recruitment, only slight increases in redundancies, and vacancies sitting below pre-pandemic levels Low Pay Commission Report 2025, GOV.UK. For product design roles, that means fewer scattergun applications and more careful, considered moves. When you get the brief right, the right people are out there.
Product designers rarely work alone. They sit alongside engineers, researchers and product managers, and the market for those neighbouring skills is shifting fast. The UK Digital Sector employment estimates track filled jobs across the sector, with the latest data covering April 2023 to March 2024 GOV.UK / DSIT – Digital Sector Economic Estimates: Employment. Design capacity grows in step with that base.
One dynamic to watch closely is the entry-level squeeze. Adzuna has seen 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?. The UK tech sector cut graduate roles by 46% in a single year, with a further 53% drop projected The Register. Junior design talent is being under-hired, which is a chance for employers willing to develop it.
There is also a route many overlook. Apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. The same thinking applies to design: structured, hands-on pathways can build the exact judgement you need rather than waiting for it to arrive fully formed.
Start with outcomes, not a wishlist of tools. Write down the product problems this person will own, the decisions they will make and the metrics they will move. A designer who carries the product is one who shapes the experience and the reasoning behind it, so your brief should describe judgement, not just deliverables.
Test that judgement directly. Swap the generic portfolio walkthrough for a real, scoped design exercise tied to a problem your team actually faces. Ask how they made trade-offs, what they cut, and how they worked with engineers and product managers. That collaboration matters because product design lives at the join between disciplines, and the surrounding market for those specialist skills stays competitive Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026).
Move quickly once you find the right person. In a low hire, low fire market Low Pay Commission Report 2025, GOV.UK, strong designers are not sitting through long, stalling processes. Keep your stages tight, give feedback fast, and be clear about the growth on offer. And widen the top of your funnel: with entry-level postings down sharply techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?, investing in promising junior and apprentice designers is a genuine opportunity, not a compromise.
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