Financial Services Recruitment Market Update May 2026

Unemployment is up again!

What does this mean for the Financial Services sectors that we cover, as well as companies and job seekers in general?

Some key figures:

⬆️  Unemployment up 0.1% to 5% in March from February.
⬇️  Job openings fell by 28,000, or 3.9%, to 705,000 between February & April, the lowest level since April 2021.
⬇️  Payroll employment figures dropped by 100,000 in April.
⬇️  Average regular earnings growth fell to 3.4% in Q1 and was 0.3% higher after inflation was taken into account.
⬆️ There were 416,000 more people in work than around this time last year 
⬆️ Youth unemployment rate has reached 14.7%.
⬇️ The suggestion is that between December 2022 and December 2025, the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds in payrolled work fell from 54.9% to 50.6%.


What does this mean for the Financial Services Sector?

Not many UK business owners will be surprised by these figures. A few factors come into play and we certainly share your frustrations, with extra costs and processes.

There are still plenty of roles being advertised and we have clients that are expanding with both VC backing and organically, especially in the FinTech space.

However, we are finding companies are selective over who they hire. More self-employed and freelance roles may also be in these figures.

Candidates are moving but selective. Good candidates are in demand, often get multiple offers and are very price sensitive. If you are looking to hire good talent you must pay them competitively.

As always, good talent is available if you can provide enough in return and companies often hire good people, even if they are not advertising.

Let us know if you would like to discuss your own specific situation, the team is happy to support at:
info@swarmrecruitment.org.uk