{"id":282432,"date":"2026-01-13T18:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/282432\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T18:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:45:15","slug":"labour-oversees-biggest-hiring-slump-since-the-pandemic-as-tax-and-regulation-stalls-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/282432\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour oversees biggest hiring slump since the pandemic as tax and regulation stalls growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK is experiencing the lowest level of recruitment intention since the pandemic period of 2020, fresh employment figures show.<\/p>\n

Just 23 per cent of UK businesses plan to increase their workforce in the next three months, according to new data from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).<\/p>\n

It also represents a decline from the 25 per cent of firms that expected to grow staffing levels at the same point last year.<\/p>\n

The proportion of businesses planning to hire has not been this low since lockdown restrictions forced widespread closures across the retail and hospitality sectors.<\/p>\n

The BCC said the figures show employers are becoming increasingly cautious about taking on new staff.<\/p>\n

Rising costs are cited as a key factor behind the reluctance to expand payrolls.<\/p>\n

The organisation\u2019s quarterly business survey points to recent tax increases as a major contributor to the slowdown in recruitment.<\/p>\n

Business leaders have linked the trend directly to measures introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.<\/p>\n

Jane Gratton, deputy director of public policy at the BCC, said employers are facing what she described as unsustainable cost pressures.<\/p>\n

She said: “As more firms struggle under the weight of rising cost pressures, we are beginning to see an adverse impact on the jobs market.<\/p>\n

“Fewer businesses are taking on new staff while others are having to let staff go.<\/p>\n

\"Keir<\/p>\n

Labour oversee the lowest level of recruitment intention since the pandemic period of 2020<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“High taxes and rising wage bills present huge barriers to investment and growth.”<\/p>\n

The survey shows that 14 per cent of businesses are actively cutting staff numbers, matching the highest proportion recorded since 2020.<\/p>\n

Around two thirds of firms reported that they expect to keep staffing levels unchanged over the next quarter.<\/p>\n

The BCC said this reflects widespread caution across the private sector, with employers dealing with the impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions (NIC).<\/p>\n

The increase has come alongside successive rises in the minimum wage, which has led to business groups warning that the combined effect puts pressure on margins, particularly for labour-intensive sectors.<\/p>\n

The data suggests the slowdown in hiring is occurring against a weakening backdrop in the wider labour market.<\/p>\n

\"Job<\/p>\n

Investment in the workforce is also scaling back, which includes developing skills<\/p>\n

| Getty Images<\/p>\n

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show the unemployment rate has risen to 5.1 per cent – the highest level in four years.<\/p>\n

Economists at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale have warned that unemployment could rise further, with the bank forecasting that the rate could reach 5.6 per cent by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Payroll data indicates that overall employment has fallen since Labour entered Government, who have overseen a total of 187,000 jobs lost during their tenure.<\/p>\n

The retail and hospitality sectors have experienced the largest reductions in employment.<\/p>\n

The BCC survey also highlights concerns beyond headline job numbers, with over 20 per cent of firms said they are reducing investment in their workforce.<\/p>\n

This includes cuts to training and skills development budgets.<\/p>\n

\"Unemployment<\/p>\n

The chart above demonstrates the unemployment rate under Rachel Reeves is now at 5.0 per cent<\/p>\n

| Brexit Facts4EU and CIBUK<\/p>\n

Businesses told the BCC they are trimming spending on staff development to offset higher costs elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The organisation said reduced training investment could have longer-term implications for productivity.<\/p>\n

A Government spokesperson said: “We are delivering stability, cutting borrowing and debt and getting inflation down.<\/p>\n

“That’s helped deliver six interest rate cuts since the election, the fastest pace of cuts in 17 years.”<\/p>\n

The Treasury said lower interest rates are benefiting firms with loans and supporting confidence to invest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK is experiencing the lowest level of recruitment intention since the pandemic period of 2020, fresh employment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[79,179,18,19,17,9171,825,5,790,63657,4520,20565],"class_list":{"0":"post-282432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-labour-party","14":"tag-money","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-sgg","18":"tag-tax","19":"tag-uk-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115889276507873097","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}