How to Get a Job in the UK in 2026 (When Fewer Jobs Are Advertised)
The UK job market in 2026 is hard in a specific way. Unemployment has barely moved: it was 4.9% in May to July, slightly down from 5.0% at the start of the year. What has changed is the number of jobs being advertised. Vacancies fell to 702,000 in June to August, the lowest level since 2014 outside the pandemic, and only 62% of employers told the CIPD they plan to recruit in the next three months.
So the problem for most job seekers is not that more people are out of work. It is that fewer roles reach the job boards, for roughly the same number of people looking. That changes what a sensible job search looks like, and this guide covers how.
Fewer adverts, not more job seekers
A shortage of advertised roles feels different from a wave of redundancies, and it calls for a different response.
Three things follow from it.
Each advert draws a bigger crowd. When fewer roles are posted and the number of people looking stays about the same, the applications pile up on the roles that do appear. A recruiter working through that pile has less time for each CV, and most large employers screen applications with software before a person sees them at all.
Employers can afford to be choosy. With more applicants per role, hiring managers can hold out for someone who matches the job description closely rather than someone who could grow into it. Near misses that might have earned an interview in a busier market are more likely to be passed over.
The drop is broad. In the three months to July, vacancies were down on the year in 11 of 18 industries, with the largest falls in number in health and social work and in retail. Moving sector is not an easy way round it.
None of this means your experience counts for less. It means the way you present it, and where you look, matter more than they did when roles were easier to find.
Apply to fewer roles, and tailor every one
The instinct when adverts dry up is to apply for everything that appears. That usually backfires. A generic CV sent to twenty roles competes badly against candidates who have shaped theirs to each job description, and applicant tracking systems score each CV against the language of the job description, so a tailored CV matches more of what the system is looking for.
Tailoring means reading the advert closely, picking out the skills and phrases it repeats, and making sure your CV uses the same language for the same experience. It also means showing outcomes rather than duties. "Responsible for the monthly budget" says what your job was. "Cut monthly overspend from 8% to 2% in a year" says what you did with it, and gives a choosy employer a reason to pick you.
If you are applying for 15 to 20 roles a week and hearing very little back, try halving the number and spending the saved time on the ones you fit best.
When fewer roles are advertised, more are filled through contacts
Many roles are never advertised publicly and are filled through networks, recruiters, and direct approaches instead. There is no authoritative figure for how many, but a commonly quoted, unverified estimate puts it at 50% to 70% of hires. Whatever the exact number, it matters more when advertised roles are scarce, because an employer who can fill a post through a referral avoids sorting through hundreds of applications.
That makes a few activities part of the job search itself rather than extras:
- Telling people you trust that you are looking, and what kind of role you want
- Keeping your LinkedIn profile current, with the job titles and skills you want to be found for
- Approaching companies you would like to work for directly, even when they have nothing advertised
- Registering with one or two specialist recruiters in your field rather than every agency
Your CV still has to get through screening
A referral can get your CV in front of a hiring manager, but it often still passes through the same applicant tracking system as everyone else's. A CV built with tables or text boxes the software cannot read, or one that does not reflect the language of the role, can fall at that first step however you sent it in. Our guide to getting past ATS screening covers what to check.
Where to focus your energy this week
- Audit your CV. Is it ATS-compatible? Does it lead with measurable achievements? Is it tailored to the roles you are applying for? If not, fix that before sending anything else, either yourself with our list of the CV mistakes that cost interviews or by having us rewrite it for the roles you want.
- Update your LinkedIn. Recruiters search LinkedIn for candidates even when they do not advertise, so make sure your headline and skills use the terms they would search for.
- Pick 10 target companies. Choose ones where you would want to work and where your skills are clearly relevant. Follow them, learn what they are working on, and consider reaching out directly.
- Tell people you are looking. A short message to five or six people you trust costs nothing and puts you in line for roles that never reach a job board.
- Apply to fewer roles, better. Three to five well-targeted applications a week are a better use of your time than twenty generic ones.
When fewer jobs are advertised, a scattergun approach gets less return than ever. A clear CV, a short list of targets, and people who know you are looking are what move a search forward.
Read next: if you are applying and hearing nothing back, why you're not getting interviews works through the likely causes one at a time.