Is the finance job market back? Another mad January…. and breathe….
Wow… that was a busy January!
So is it time to slice the top off a couple of champagne bottles with a sharpened sword – errrm probably not. But are there signs of life in the market – undeniably…
There was obviously some pent-up demand building during Q4 2025, lots of clients / businesses seemed fatigued after being soaked head to toe by the bucket of challenges that the economy and politicians threw at them last year.
A fair number chose to kick the recruitment can as far out of sight down the cobbles as they could… but new jobs came straight out of the blocks on the 2nd January this year.
Most accountancy and finance recruiters (in fact most recruiters in general) will likely say they experienced a tough jobs market in 2025.
There were pockets of excitement but in the main there was client caution, low optimism, declining vacancy numbers. It was a bit of a slog.
The vacancy number dropped to about 720,000 but then steadied and that seems to be the floor for the moment at least. In fact, we saw a slight bounce on the latest ONS results (which reverses a 3 year trend of month on month lower vacancy numbers being reported).
Anecdotally sentiment seems much more positive and the outlook much more bullish over the last few weeks. There has been a tangible change in market buoyancy.
There are more jobs specs landing on desks. The mood seems more upbeat generally and there looks likely to be PE money and general investment kicking around through H1.
And it’s coupled with higher candidate confidence.
Through 2025 the sticky market conditions meant lots of the UK population leant in to ‘better the devil I know’ … there was a high degree of perceived risk attached to a job move (probably justified in the main) because the vacancy fall off had been so demoralising.
That created a bit of a holding pattern – clients cautious about recruiting, candidates cautious to move…
But early signs suggest someone has put 50p back in the meter, the lights are back on and the ride might be grinding back into swing.
So, what does it mean if you are looking to hire into your finance team this year and what does it mean if you are a potential job seeker?
Hiring Managers:
If you have a pressing need then my best advice would be to ensure you are presenting your proposition as fully as possible… the market isn’t awash with candidates so competition for talent is still a definite challenge.
If you can then offer hybrid working (it widens your choice pool). If you can’t then that’s OK and I get it – we will work round it. Lots of companies are trying to wrestle their staff back into the office – but if you can be one of the ones that is happy to adopt hybrid then it gives you an advantage.
2 things are front and centre of peoples minds this year…
– Is there job security (I don’t wanna be last in first out if the sea gets choppy again)
– Can I clearly progress (when the market was sticky last year some people’s career trajectory stalled – they will want confidence that you can help them catch up for lost time)
So if your profit is good, cash position is good, revenue is tracking ahead YoY or vs budget then shout about it!! Like properly lay it out there… the job is safe and you can progress here is a good message (if it’s true).
If you have a vacancy that needs filling but is less urgent than “ASAP JOHN FFS!” then you have a dilemma… do you play chicken and see how the candidate market is later this year or do you strike now while it’s busy but reasonably calm?
If you wait then you might catch a market that stalls but is candidate dense (so you’ll have loads of choice) but if it fizzes up a la post pandemic it might be tricky to recruit (and expensive as salary inflation will kick back into force!)….
Your call but I like the predictability of fixing my mortgage so I would be pulling the trigger sooner than later (the recruiter says recruit – obviously!)
Candidates:
Early signs are that this is a better market. And the job market tends to follow cycles. So this could be the initial wave of the incoming tide…
But it’s been more unpredictable lately.
So if you aren’t desperate for a move that’s a lovely place to be when the market is on the ebb. Dust down a CV, get feelers out… if you see a role that’s ace then explore it and take it… because you might be at the front of a building queue.
It could all go haywire again and that can be a frustrating time for candidates – lots of job specs but lots of competition from peers who are also confident that a move is associated with less risk than 2025…
Again your call as always but my guess is that there will be some opportunities in 2026 for some finance folk to really supercharge their careers.
The recruitment rollercoaster continues, we’ve all bought our tickets again – let’s see how it goes!
Thanks as always for reading.
If you are keen to have a confidential conversation regarding a particular vacancy or requirement in your finance function then please feel free to give us a call on 01246 541 927.
