As we move towards the end of Q2 2026, the UK HR recruitment market continues to feel steady, but cautious.
While the volatility we saw throughout 2025 has eased, the market still hasn’t fully regained confidence. Hiring activity has stabilised in many areas, but decision making remains measured, particularly when it comes to long term commitments.
Permanent recruitment remains relatively cautious, although there are signs that the pace of decline is slowing. Recent market data suggests that permanent placements are now falling only marginally, with reductions at their lowest in nearly three years. In practice, we’re seeing organisations move ahead with hiring, but in a much more selective and considered way.
At the same time, interim and FTC hiring continues to play a key role in how businesses are managing through uncertainty. Flexibility remains front of mind, and many organisations are choosing to access skills on a shorter term basis rather than committing to permanent headcount.
More widely, the UK labour market reflects this cautious approach. Employment levels have remained broadly stable at around 75%, while vacancy levels have continued to decline, pointing to a continued cooling in overall demand.
Overall, the market feels more predictable than it did at the start of the year. It’s not a strong rebound, but there is a growing sense that conditions are stabilising, with gradual signs of confidence building as we move into the second half of 2026.
Permanent hiring: cautious but progressing
Permanent hiring has remained more measured throughout Q2. Cost control continues to be a key driver for organisations, with many businesses prioritising efficiency and productivity over growth. This is feeding into longer hiring processes, increased internal approvals and a sharper focus on “must-have” roles.
That said, hiring is still happening. We’re seeing organisations move forward with roles that are critical to business continuity or transformation, rather than broad headcount expansion.
There are also early signs that some previously paused roles are starting to come back to market, suggesting that while confidence is still cautious, it is beginning to improve.
Interim and flexible hiring: still leading the way
As part of this quarterly update, one of the clearest themes we’ve continued to see is the ongoing shift towards interim and flexible hiring models.
Within HR specifically, demand remains focused on roles that can deliver immediate impact. We are continuing to see strong demand for:
- Employee Relations specialists supporting restructures and complex casework
- HR Business Partners and HR Leaders driving change and transformation
- Project-based and fractional HR support, particularly across SMEs
This targeted approach to hiring reflects a broader shift in expectations. Employers are looking for individuals who can step into roles quickly, operate at pace and balance both strategic thinking with hands on delivery.
Candidate market and pay trends
Another notable shift over the past few months has been in candidate supply. Candidate availability has continued to increase, giving employers a wider pool of talent to access.
As a result, salary growth has cooled slightly, with pay increases now sitting at more modest levels than we’ve seen in recent years.
For candidates, this means processes can feel more competitive, and timelines can be longer. For employers, it provides greater choice, but also reinforces the importance of a clear and engaging hiring process to secure the right talent.
Hunter Adams Insights
We’ve pulled together some of our Team’s top read articles from the past few months over on Linkedin and collated into the list below.
- AI in recruitment: Why human judgement still matters | Hunter Adams – by Candice Thompson
- Why businesses are rethinking traditional hiring models – by Laura Brownhill
- Employment Rights Act 2025: trade union changes employers must prepare for
- Leadership Training & Management Training UK | Hunter Adams – by Sarah Beaumont
- ‘Can a machine do this job?’ is the wrong question
What’s been happening at Hunter Adams
With offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester and London, Hunter Adams provides HR services across the UK.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary in June – a significant milestone that marked our journey from a North east start-up to a trusted HR partner to organisations across the UK. Hunter Adams celebrates 15 years of helping businesses grow.
Over the past decade and a half, we’ve grown, evolved and expanded, but one thing has remained constant: our passion for helping organisations create great places to work through excellent people practices.
A huge thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey – your support has helped shape Hunter Adams into the business it is today. Here’s a link of our team sharing 15 facts from the journey so far https://youtu.be/vBW0LkHNP44
The Team have also been busy with lots of in person catch ups and attending networking events, including:
The cHeRries Awards & Conference
Hunter Adams were once again delighted to sponsor the Culture Transformation Project of the Year Award at this years cHeRries Awards. At Hunter Adams, we’re passionate about the power of workplace culture and the difference it can make to people, performance and business success. That’s why we’re so excited to celebrate the organisations that have been leading inspiring culture transformation initiatives across the North East.
We were also delighted to be exhibiting at the Conference with the team available to chat about the people challenges and opportunities facing organisations – from attracting and retaining talent to building strong cultures and developing effective leaders. On top of that our Director of HR, Sarah Beaumont delivered interactive sessions throughout the day on Trade Union reform, sharing the latest updates following on from the Employment Rights Act.
Women in New Energy was a great opportunity for Candice and Laura to spend time with a wider network across the energy sector, hear what’s happening in the market, and have some really interesting conversations.
Jude and Holly were delighted to be invited to The Johnnie Walker Experience in Edinburgh by clients Caxton and AMS Group. If you haven’t been, we highly recommend, even if you aren’t a big whiskey fan. The interactive tour was brilliant – a full sensory experience! And the venue has some of the best views of Edinburgh. It was the perfect setting for building on existing relationships and making new connections.
Overall outlook
While the market still has its challenges, the direction of travel is becoming clearer.
Hiring activity has stabilised, interim demand remains strong, and permanent recruitment, while still cautious, is no longer seeing the sharp declines of the past couple of years.
It’s a market that requires flexibility and realism on both sides, but there are opportunities for those who are open to them.
Get in touch
If you’re an HR professional considering a move, or would like to have a chat about what’s happening in the market, our team is here to help.
Please see below for the best point of contact to support you with your search and feel free to connect with them via the links below:
Candice Thompson – Head of Recruitment – Permanent and FTC – North Scotland, England (Senior Hires), Wales & NI
Eilidh Robertson – Head of Executive Search – Permanent and Interim (London / Senior Hires)
Laura Brownhill – Recruitment Manager – Interim (UK)
Jude Fletcher – Senior Recruitment Advisor – Permanent and FTC – Central Belt Scotland, England, Wales & NI
We also support businesses with non HR recruitment across a wide range of roles – from operational and commercial positions through to specialist and leadership hires.
If you’d like to keep an eye on our new vacancies, you can follow Hunter Adams to be kept up to date with our weekly Roles Roundup posts (every Friday):
