Job vacancies in UK financial and insurance activities fell to 30,000 in June, according to the latest figures from Office for National Statistics (ONS), the lowest monthly reading since early 2022 and well below the post-pandemic peak of 56,000 reached in May of that year.
The sector data, drawn from ONS time series JP9Q, shows the sector has lost nearly half its vacancy volume from its post-pandemic high. Financial and insurance vacancies averaged 32,000 in both Q1 and Q2 2026, flat for three years. Pre-pandemic norms ran between 31,000 and 39,000, per the same ONS series for 2017 to 2019.
The sector reading sits within a broader labour market that the ONS described as subdued. A separate report from The Independent shows total UK vacancies fell to 707,000 in the three months to July. The ONS described that as the lowest level in more than five years outside the Covid period.
Private sector pay growth fell to 2.8% in the three months to June, the lowest since October 2020, according to ONS data cited by The Independent. Public sector pay rose 6.1% over the same period, driven by NHS pay awards. Overall regular wage growth rose to 3.5%, up from 3.4% in the three months to April.
James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, said the headline figures obscure a fragmented picture. "Government is still actively hiring, a trend throughout this year," he said. "In sharp contrast, consumer-facing industries have been consistently shedding jobs and if anything, the pace of decline is getting worse."
Smith attributed part of the private sector pay slowdown to compositional effects: a rise in lower-paid employment relative to higher-paid jobs that is skewing average figures down. He estimated that stripping this out would add approximately 0.4 percentage points to the private sector figure.
On rates, Smith said conditions do not point to an imminent rise. "Barring a severe and persistent spike in energy prices, we think the Bank will keep rates on hold until next spring, before cutting rates at least twice in 2027," he said.
Suren Thiru, chief economist at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), described the persistent vacancy slide as "a red flag for the jobs market, suggesting labour demand is shrinking amid soaring employment and energy costs, while greater automation is also squeezing some entry-level roles."
For the insurance sector, the vacancy plateau sits alongside a structural hiring problem that industry data has tracked for several years. London market early careers hiring fell 25% in 2025, and the London Market Group (LMG) has forecast a further 25% decline in 2026. The LMG has warned that the proportion of under-30 workers could fall from 24% today to just 7% by 2030 if current trends continue.
Caroline Wagstaff, chief executive of the LMG, said that the slowdown reflected firms cutting early careers recruitment during softer market conditions. "We've got a bad market habit of every soft cycle we stop hiring," she said. "This is not a new problem. It's just exacerbated by AI."
The broader broker market is still hiring. Aviva's 2026 Broker Barometer found 72% of UK brokers were actively recruiting, but the gap between open roles and available talent is not narrowing.
Meanwhile, at the BIBA conference in May, 40% of those surveyed ranked talent first, ahead of AI adoption, emerging risk and regulatory compliance.
The ONS data adds a macro-level dimension to what the sector has described as a structural pressure. When the wider labour market cools and sector vacancies fall together, the competition for a smaller pool of candidates does not ease. It intensifies among the firms still actively growing.
