REC response to ONS labour market figures, December 2025

The ONS published its latest labour market figures this morning. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Chief Executive Neil Carberry said:

“Today’s jobs numbers will surprise no-one in business. April’s disastrous NI raid, combined with low growth, technological change and a rising tide of regulation have made businesses more hesitant about adding to their employment costs this Autumn. That said, the picture is not totally gloomy, as vacancies are stabilising, economic inactivity dropping and pay normalising. There is some evidence here that a turgid overall picture will improve if we can get growth going. Reducing capital costs to firms will help – a further cut in interest rates this week would be timely.  

“Firms repeatedly cite the Employment Rights Bill as a brake on their hiring decisions. Recently we have seen the first positive moves to change the Bill after a year of megaphone diplomacy. But the practical and sensible step of retaining a qualifying period for unfair dismissal must be followed by similar steps on other areas of the Bill, such as the right to guaranteed hours, as Regulations are written.

“No-one should forget why encouraging employment creation matters. We have a crisis of youth worklessness to address, and steps which make it harder for employers to take a chance on someone, whether a young person or someone returning from sickness, must be addressed.”