• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Tuesday January 13 2026

Jobs market cooled in December – but pay growth was stronger

The region’s jobs market cooled in December, but starting salaries for permanent jobs rose at a faster pace, according to the latest Report on Jobs from trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and accountants KPMG.

The monthly report showed that hiring fell for the 39th month in a row – and at the steepest pace for four months.

Conditions meant that the supply of candidates rose sharply – which was largely linked to redundancies.

However, rather than driving salaries down, for those lucky enough to secure a job tarting salaries for permanent workers rose by the most since May as firms competed for candidates with in-demand skills.

David Williams, Bristol office senior partner at KPMG UK, said: “December brought challenging conditions for the South of England, with both permanent placements and temp billings falling at their fastest rates in three months. This underscores the divergent confidence levels across the country as businesses navigate ongoing economic uncertainty.

“However, beneath the headline figures, there are opportunities emerging for employers in the South willing to act decisively.

“Permanent candidate availability rose at the sharpest rate of any English region – the third-strongest increase since the pandemic.

“While starting salaries also grew at their fastest pace in sixteen months, it signals that the market is maturing and that businesses are choosing to invest more in the best talent, rather than just filling roles, despite economic headwinds.

“With this depth of talent available and employers demonstrating real commitment to securing quality hires, organisations with clear workforce strategies have a genuine window of opportunity to strengthen their teams heading into 2026.”

Neil Carberry, chief executive of REC, said: “It’s always difficult to draw conclusions from jobs data in December, but the fact that the market in the UK slipped back a little on November is a reminder of the pressure employers are under.

“Nevertheless, the second half of 2025 showed some signs of a long run of negative data softening in the UK, and with placements falling at a slower pace than the 2025 average in December there is some hope that we are seeing a December dip, rather than a change in the trend.

“There is certainly a wider range of experience now, with the rate of contraction in permanent placements in the South of England slower than the average seen over the current period of decline and the downturn in temp billings in the region softer than the average seen over 2025.

“Activity kicked off this month is what will really tell us if the tide is turning.

“Making this a better year for hiring will require a focus on building business confidence to invest. With the Budget behind us, the government needs to set out a clear path that firms can believe in, from the industrial strategy to pragmatic approaches on the Employment Rights Act, which is worrying many firms.”

The report was compiled from the responses to questionnaires sent to around 150 recruitment and employment consultancies in the South of England.

Dan Barfoot, operations director at Wiltshire- and Bath-based CMD Recruitment and a contributor to the report said: “The numbers are what are expected given the time of year, and what will be more interesting is to see how quickly the numbers rise in the first Quarter of 2026.

“The biggest impacts coming to effect this is yet again another National Minimum increase and also the new Employment Rights Act.

“If you want to grow your business this year, you will need to have eyes everywhere looking for fresh talent, which is why working with a recruitment partner can help.

“As you do your job, let them do theirs, as any business is built from the people within it.”

Image by Tima Miroshnichenko at Pexels