| UK job postings fell 11% in the first half of 2026 while AI-related skills appeared in a record 9.4% of job advertisements, according to Indeed data reported by Reuters.
UK Hiring Falls While Demand for AI Skills Jumps
Job postings were 32% below their pre-pandemic level, and advertised wage growth slowed to 3.9% annually in the three months to June. Graduate postings were down 7% year-on-year and at their lowest seasonal level since 2020. Summer and temporary roles were the weakest in four years.
At the end of June, AI or related tools and programmes appeared in 9.4% of UK job postings, a record high. Indeed senior economist Jack Kennedy described a labour market under sustained pressure, with hiring demand falling across most of the economy while demand concentrates around specific technical capabilities.
Why it matters: The result is a two-speed market: experienced workers with scarce technical skills may benefit from continued demand, while graduates and younger workers face fewer opportunities to gain an initial foothold. For fields such as environmental engineering, domain knowledge may increasingly need to be combined with data analysis, modelling and practical AI literacy. The headline is not simply that AI is replacing jobs; it shows a reallocation of value towards people who can use AI within a real domain.