Scotland sees steepest fall in advertised jobs – Daily Business

Competition for jobs is at its highest in more than four years with Scotland recording the steepest month-on-month decline in vacancies in December, falling 8.36% compared with November. 

Across the UK there are now 2.3 jobseekers vying for every advertised vacancy. North East England was the only area to see the number of roles increase,up 1.09%.

The overall decline was the sixth consecutive monthly fall, according to the latest figures from job matching platform Adzuna. High inflation, economic uncertainty and the rising use of AI continue to impact hiring activity. 

Adzuna data shows vacancies in December fell 3.84% month-on-month to 716,791 jobs and 15.09% below December 2024’s levels. This represented the lowest average vacancy levels of any full year since 2020, making it one of the worst years for jobseekers since the COVID-19 pandemic.  

With hiring slowing, employers are cutting back on remote roles and demanding greater office presence, pulling advertised remote jobs to their lowest level since March 2020.

There were 45,581 advertised remote job ads in December, down -42% annually. Meanwhile, there’s an uptick in office-based job ads, even though advertised hybrid roles continue to climb steadily. 

There were green shoots of growth for those entering the market for the first time. After a turbulent year, graduate vacancies rose 3.9% monthly in December, while broader entry-level jobs also saw a boost, jumping 18.3% month-on-month. Both sectors are still down on 2024 (34.6% graduates; 13% entry-level).

Another positive signal is the ongoing growth of wages seen throughout 2025. Adzuna’s data shows the average UK salary rose 6.77% annually to £42,991 in December, up 0.71% on the month before. This means annual salaries have been growing steadily for a record 43 months, since May 2022. 

Despite the general fall, advertised salaries continued to rise across every region on both a monthly and annual basis in December.

Wales recorded the strongest annual pay growth at 11.41%, followed by Scotland (8.63%) and London (7.48%). This means annual salaries in Wales have risen consistently by double digits since last January. 

London remains the highest-paying part of the country, with average advertised salaries at £49,564, making it the only region with pay levels above the UK average and on track to be the first to surpass the £50,000 mark. 

Advertised salaries 

Confidence falls

Firms across the private sector once again expect activity to fall in the next three months, according to the CBI’s latest Growth Indicator. Nonetheless, this pessimism has eased somewhat, with growth expectations at their least negative in three months. 

Alpesh Paleja, CBI deputy chief economist, said:  “The UK economy has not experienced a strong start to 2026.

“While there are tentative signs of stabilisation and resilience in some specific areas, the big picture remains similar to much of last year: businesses remain cautious, households are downtrading and confidence is still fragile. Recent geopolitical tensions will only have added to uncertainty at the margin.

“If the government wants to shift the dial, it must focus on the fundamentals of competitiveness. That means lowering the cost of doing business, starting with decisive action on energy costs and streamlining regulation to give firms the confidence to invest.”