Job Flow Index
Recruitment Statistics - April 2026
Recruitment Overview
April was a more measured month for the recruitment market following March’s strong performance, with activity easing across most key indicators. However, the underlying picture is still positive when compared with April 2025, particularly across overall jobs created, total placements, and temp/contract performance.
While monthly volumes dipped, the market remains ahead of last year in several important areas. Total jobs created were up 9% year-on-year, total placements were up 14%, and temp/contract placements were up 18% compared with April 2025.
- Total placements decreased by 7% in April, but remained 14% higher year-on-year.
- Total jobs created decreased by 12% month-on-month, but were still up 9% compared with April 2025.
- Temp/contract continued to outperform permanent year-on-year, with temp/contract jobs created up 24% and temp/contract placements up 18% versus April 2025.
- Permanent activity softened, with permanent jobs created down 14% month-on-month and permanent placements down 6%.
The biggest area of resilience came from Construction, Trades & Labour, where permanent placements increased 12% month-on-month and temp/contract placements remained only slightly down after a strong March. Sales & Digital Marketing permanent placements also remained a year-on-year bright spot, up 30% compared with April 2025.
Overall, April looks less like a reversal and more like a cooling-off month after a very strong March. Volumes dipped month-on-month, but year-on-year performance suggests the market is still operating at a healthier level than this time last year.
Jobs and placements created
The total number of jobs created decreased by 12% in April, while the total number of placements made decreased by 7%.
Despite the month-on-month fall, both measures remained ahead of April 2025, with jobs created up 9% year-on-year and placements up 14%.
Permanent
The number of permanent jobs created decreased by 14% in April, while permanent placements decreased by 6%.
Permanent activity was also slightly behind April 2025, with permanent jobs created down 5% year-on-year and permanent placements down 4%.
Temp & Contract
The number of temp and contract jobs created decreased by 11% in April, while temp and contract placements decreased by 8%.
However, temp and contract remained the strongest area of year-on-year growth. Temp and contract jobs created were up 24% compared with April 2025, while temp and contract placements were up 18%.
Placements by sector
Professional Services
Permanent placements in the Professional Services sector decreased by 15% in April.
Temp and contract placements in Professional Services decreased by 13% month-on-month, but remained 20% higher than April 2025.
Finance & Accountancy
Permanent placements in Finance & Accountancy decreased by 13% in April.
Temporary and contract placements in this sector decreased by 32% month-on-month, although they remained slightly ahead of April 2025.
Construction, Trades & Labour
Permanent placements in the Construction, Trades & Labour sector increased by 12% in April, making it one of the clearest positive movements of the month.
Temporary and contract placements decreased by 4%, but remained 23% higher than April 2025, showing continued strength in high-volume temp and contract hiring.
Technology
Permanent placements in the Technology sector decreased by 26% in April.
Temporary and contract placements increased by 16% month-on-month, although both permanent and temp/contract placements remained below April 2025 levels.
Engineering, Manufacturing, FMCG & Warehousing
Permanent placements in the Manufacturing, Engineering, FMCG & Warehousing sector decreased by 16% in April.
Temporary and contract placements decreased by 44%, following a particularly strong March.
Sales & Digital Marketing
Permanent placements in Sales & Digital Marketing decreased by 13% month-on-month, but remained 30% higher than April 2025.
Temporary and contract placements decreased by 53% in April.
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 decreased by 16% in April.
Quality Applications Per Job
The number of quality applications per new advert decreased from 7 to 6 in April.
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 April, 35% of applications were made by existing candidates, broadly in line with March.
Applications from re-engaged candidates
93% of applications from re-engaged candidates were generated by Job Alerts in April.
Candidate applications from web sources
52% of applications from web sources were generated by Job Boards in April.
Spec CVs Sent
The sending of speculative CVs, when there is no formal role available, can indicate market confidence and business development activity. There is a clear correlation between Spec CV activity and the number of jobs created in any given month.
There were 32% fewer Spec CVs sent in April following March’s major spike. However, Spec CV activity remained significantly higher than April 2025, suggesting business development activity is still running well above last year’s level.
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