Job Flow Index
Recruitment Statistics - May 2026
Recruitment Overview
The most valuable takeaway for recruiters is that May was not driven by higher advert volume. Job adverts were broadly flat month-on-month and down compared with May 2025, yet jobs created remained ahead both month-on-month and year-on-year. This suggests agencies are continuing to create opportunities without relying solely on more job advertising.
Key movements in May:
- Total jobs created increased by 2% month-on-month and were 12% higher than May 2025.
- Total placements decreased by 2% month-on-month, but remained 8% higher year-on-year.
- Temp and contract continued to outperform, with jobs created up 3% month-on-month and 26% year-on-year.
- Permanent placements decreased by 12% month-on-month, although they were still 4% higher than May 2025.
- Spec CVs sent increased by 39% month-on-month, suggesting recruiters increased proactive business development activity.
The strongest area of resilience came from temp and contract hiring, where placements remained stable month-on-month and continued to outperform permanent year-on-year. Construction, Trades & Labour remained the highest-volume temp and contract sector, while Finance & Accountancy, Technology, and Engineering, Manufacturing, FMCG & Warehousing all saw month-on-month increases in temp and contract placements.
Overall, May suggests recruiters are operating in a more efficient but more demanding market. Candidate volume was slightly softer, but job creation remained strong, placements stayed ahead of last year, and proactive activity increased sharply. For agencies, the opportunity is clear: success is coming from sharper candidate engagement, stronger use of owned channels, and consistent business development rather than simply posting more adverts.
Jobs and placements created
The total number of jobs created increased by 2% in May, while total placements decreased by 2%.
Year-on-year, both measures remained ahead of May 2025, with jobs created up 12% and placements up 8%.
Permanent
The number of permanent jobs created increased by 1% in May, while permanent placements decreased by 12%.
Compared with May 2025, permanent jobs created were broadly flat, while permanent placements increased by 4%.
Temp & Contract
The number of temp and contract jobs created increased by 3% in May, while temp and contract placements remained broadly flat month-on-month.
Temp and contract continued to show the strongest year-on-year growth, with jobs created up 26% and placements up 9% compared with May 2025.
Placements by sector
Professional Services
Permanent placements in Professional Services decreased by 3% in May.
Temp and contract placements decreased by 8% month-on-month, but remained 28% higher than May 2025.
Finance & Accountancy
Permanent placements in Finance & Accountancy decreased by 18% in May.
Temp and contract placements increased by 61% month-on-month and were 73% higher than May 2025, although this is from a smaller base.
Construction, Trades & Labour
Permanent placements in the Construction, Trades & Labour sector decreased by 39% in May, falling from 181 in April to 111 in May.
However, permanent placements were still 7% higher than May 2025, showing the sector remained slightly ahead year-on-year despite the month-on-month drop.
Temp and contract placements decreased slightly by 2%, but remained 5% higher than May 2025 and continued to account for the largest share of temp and contract placements.
Technology
Permanent placements in Technology decreased by 3% in May.
Temp and contract placements increased by 22% month-on-month, although both permanent and temp/contract placements remained below May 2025 levels.
Engineering, Manufacturing, FMCG & Warehousing
Permanent placements in Engineering, Manufacturing, FMCG & Warehousing decreased by 12% in May.
Temp and contract placements increased by 22% month-on-month and were 11% higher than May 2025.
Sales & Digital Marketing
Permanent placements in Sales & Digital Marketing decreased by 23% in May.
Temp and contract placements increased from 9 to 25, although volumes remain relatively low compared with other sectors.
Job Adverts
This chart shows the number of new job adverts posted each month across all sectors and platforms. Multiple adverts can be posted per job, but this data indicates the volume of active adverts per month.
The number of job adverts posted remained broadly flat in May, increasing by less than 1% month-on-month.
However, adverts were down 13% compared with May 2025, while jobs created and placements both increased year-on-year.
Quality Applications Per Job
The number of quality applications per new advert remained steady at 6 in May.
Application Source
The source of applications for your agency’s jobs is a good indicator of the strength of your agency’s brand presence and candidate loyalty.
In May, 34% of applications came from existing candidates, slightly down from 35% in April.
Applications from existing candidates decreased by 9% month-on-month, while applications from new candidates decreased by 4%.
Applications from re-engaged candidates
87% of applications from re-engaged candidates were generated by Job Alerts in May and 13% from Email Campaigns.
Important to note, Email Campaign applications increased by 83% month-on-month, while Job Alert applications decreased by 9%.
Candidate applications from web sources
Applications from web sources were almost evenly split in May, with 50% generated by Job Boards and 50% from other sources, including agency websites.
Job Board applications decreased by 8% month-on-month and were 20% lower than May 2025, while website and other source applications were 14% higher year-on-year.
Spec CVs Sent
There were 39% more Spec CVs sent in May than in April.
Spec CV activity was also significantly higher than May 2025, suggesting recruiters increased proactive business development activity during the month.
"We've grown from 3 to 19 users, and Firefish has adapted to our changing needs.
