UK hiring falls as demand for AI skills surges, Indeed reports

The UK labor market is developing a split personality. Overall job postings have dropped roughly 10% compared to January 2025, according to data from Indeed, while software-development vacancies have climbed 14% over the same period. Indeed’s Hiring Lab describes this as a “two-speed” labor market, with retail, manufacturing, and various white-collar roles shedding vacancies, while positions tied to artificial intelligence are pulling in the opposite direction. The numbers tell a lopsided story Jack Kennedy, an economist at Indeed, put it bluntly. “The UK labor market is increasingly splitting into two speeds,” he said, with demand concentrated among experienced workers in senior roles, particularly those with AI-adjacent skill sets. Back in December 2024, Indeed’s data showed overall UK job postings sitting 12% below pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, mentions of generative AI in job listings were growing rapidly, though from a tiny base. GenAI-related language appeared in just 0.2% of all UK job postings at that point. That 0.2% figure sounds negligible until you zoom into specific sectors. Mathematics-related roles had the highest share of GenAI mentions at 5.5%. Scientific ...