APSCo Labour Market Insights & Recruitment Trends (UK)
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The latest APSCo and ONS labour market data continues to show a complex UK hiring landscape, with falling vacancy numbers but job volumes that remain above pre-pandemic levels.
For employers and candidates in the energy, engineering, power and nuclear sectors, this creates a highly competitive market where skills shortages, evolving regulation and shifting payment practices all shape how people are hired, paid and retained.
This hub brings together APSCo labour market insights, Astute’s sector-specific commentary, and practical takeaways for employers and candidates. It is updated regularly to reflect the latest data and what it means for recruitment in the UK’s energy and engineering markets.
Latest APSCo Labour Market Update
Astute bucks APSCo trends as energy hiring surges – May 2025
While APSCo’s latest Hiring Trends analysis – produced with Bullhorn – shows UK recruitment activity softening between March and April 2025, Astute’s data from the energy market tells a different story.
Across the wider market, APSCo reported a reduction in new roles, with contract jobs falling by -6% month-on-month and permanent roles down -5%, alongside declines in both contract and permanent placements.
This followed only marginal improvements earlier in the year, demonstrating how macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures – including uncertainty around US tariffs – continue to weigh on hiring sentiment.
Despite this backdrop, Astute recorded a 12.9% increase in permanent vacancies from March to April, with contract roles dipping 7.4% but overall job volume still rising by 2.9% month-on-month.
Demand remains particularly strong across renewables, power generation and nuclear, where project pipelines, safety expectations and decarbonisation commitments mean employers cannot afford prolonged talent gaps.
As APSCo’s UK Managing Director Samantha Hurley notes, “Good people – particularly those in highly skilled remits – are still hard to come by, and employers continue to turn to the best recruiters to source these individuals.”Astute’s own performance reinforces this point: employers in complex technical environments are increasingly partnering with specialist recruiters that can blend permanent and contract solutions, de-risk project delivery and provide market insight beyond headline vacancy figures.
Astute’s latest view on UK energy hiring
Matt Dickens, Director at Astute, commented, “While many sectors are feeling the pressure of economic and geopolitical disruption, the energy industry continues to show resilience.
“Our data reflects a healthy appetite for permanent hiring across the sector, particularly in renewables, power generation, and nuclear.
“We’ve increasingly focused on building deeper partnerships with organisations that understand the value of specialist contract recruitment in complex, technical environments.
“Our contract performance has been exceptionally strong in terms of placements and delivery, and this evolution ensures we’re aligned with clients that prioritise expertise, speed, and long-term outcomes over volume alone.
“What we’re seeing is businesses across the energy sector clambering for talent.
“In these environments, any downturn in project activity caused by talent shortages has a ripple effect – risking cost overruns, delays, or safety concerns.
“That’s why we take a partnership-led approach.
“We don’t just react; we embed ourselves into our clients’ workforce planning, enabling them to attract, secure, and retain the best people at the right time.
“Highly skilled professionals in the energy sector remain in high demand and short supply – and that’s exactly where Astute adds the most value.
“Our deep understanding of niche technical disciplines across nuclear, power generation, and renewables means we’re able to cut through the noise and deliver talent that others can’t reach.
“We have access to a wide talent pool, but we also recognise that the best candidates aren’t always actively looking.
“Through our People Plus solution and innovative marketing strategies, we help businesses amplify their employee value proposition and engage with skilled professionals who might not otherwise be considering a move. It’s about creating the right opportunity, not just filling a vacancy.”
While ONS data confirms a 13.5% year-on-year decline in total UK vacancies, the energy sector remains comparatively robust, demonstrating the value of sector specialism and proactive workforce planning.
Key Recruitment Trends from APSCo Data
Vacancy trends
- Vacancies have fallen consistently across the wider UK labour market, with APSCo and ONS data showing multi-month declines, yet levels remain above pre-pandemic norms.
- Labour market updates for 2024 and 2025 point to over one million vacancies at times, indicating that demand for talent is still strong even as growth moderates.
- In Astute’s core energy sectors, vacancy volumes have often moved counter to national trends, with increases in permanent roles even when UK-wide job creation slows.
Contractor vs permanent demand
- APSCo data shows short-term dips in both contract and permanent hiring, but commentary highlights that highly skilled roles remain difficult to fill and continue to command strong demand.
- Astute’s experience mirrors this: while contract volumes can fluctuate month-to-month, demand for experienced contractors to plug critical skills gaps remains exceptionally high across power, renewable and nuclear projects.
- Regulatory developments – from IR35 set off proposals to late payment reforms – are reshaping how contractors engage with clients and agencies, but they have not reduced the underlying need for specialist technical expertise.
Sector-specific demand in energy and engineering
- APSCo research on engineering shows vacancy numbers growing while applications fall sharply, underlining acute skills shortages across the discipline.
- Within power generation, renewables and nuclear, Astute reports sustained high demand for engineers with electrical, mechanical, process and safety-critical experience.
- Emerging policy shifts – including the EU Reset Deal and UK net zero commitments – are expected to further increase demand for STEM and energy-transition talent over the medium term.
What This Means for Employers
For hiring managers in the energy and engineering sectors, APSCo’s data and Astute’s on-the-ground insight point to a structurally tight talent market rather than a simple “slowdown”. Vacancies may fluctuate, but skills shortages, security clearance timelines, and regulatory complexity all mean competition for experienced professionals remains intense.
- Hiring competition – Good people are still hard to come by, so organisations that move quickly, communicate clearly and invest in specialist recruitment partnerships are more likely to secure top talent.
- Salary pressure – Engineering salary data shows year-on-year increases of around 5% as employers use pay to attract scarce skills, but pay alone will not solve structural shortages.
- Skills shortages – APSCo repeatedly highlights persistent gaps in technical, professional and STEM roles, with Astute’s team seeing this daily across nuclear, power and renewable projects.
- Workforce planning – With vacancy trends more volatile, building long-term, partnership-led recruitment strategies is critical to avoid project delays, safety issues and cost overruns.
- Regulation and risk – IR35 set off, late payment reforms and evolving visa routes all have implications for contractor engagement and supply chain stability in technical sectors.
What This Means for Candidates
For engineers, technicians and project professionals, APSCo’s labour market updates are broadly positive: even where vacancies fall at a headline level, skilled candidates remain in high demand – especially in energy and engineering.
- Job availability – ONS and APSCo data confirms that, despite month-on-month declines, vacancies remain above pre-2020 levels, with energy and infrastructure roles particularly resilient.
- In-demand skills – Employers are seeking hands-on technical expertise, safety and compliance experience, and project delivery track records across nuclear, renewables and power generation.
- Contract vs permanent – High demand for contractors continues, but IR35 and payment practices mean candidates need clear advice on how different engagement models affect take-home pay, security and flexibility.
- Career mobility – Policy shifts such as the EU Reset Deal and youth mobility discussions could create new routes for international work and cross-border careers in the coming years.
If you are exploring your next move in the power, nuclear or renewable sectors, Astute’s specialist teams can help you navigate the market, benchmark your options and connect with projects that match your skills and ambitions.
What APSCo Data Means for Solar, Power & Nuclear Recruitment
APSCo’s labour market data provides vital context, but the picture within energy is even more nuanced. While some UK sectors respond to economic uncertainty by pausing hiring, power generation, renewables and nuclear continue to recruit to deliver on net zero, grid resilience and infrastructure investment.
- Solar and renewables – Project pipelines, grid connection timelines and investor expectations mean sustained demand for Project Managers, Design Engineers and field-based technicians, even when overall vacancy numbers soften.
- Power generation – Conventional and low-carbon generation assets require highly skilled operations, maintenance and engineering professionals to protect safety, reliability and regulatory compliance.
- Nuclear – Long-term programmes, stringent security clearance, and specialist skill requirements amplify competition for nuclear engineers, safety specialists and project leaders.
Astute’s view is that employers who treat APSCo’s data as a cue to “wait and see” risk losing ground to those who maintain proactive recruitment strategies.In high-hazard, capital-intensive environments, the cost of unfilled roles often far exceeds the investment needed to secure the right people.
Historical APSCo Updates
Labour Market Overview – October 2024
The October 2024 labour market bulletin showed an employment rate of 75.0% and unemployment at 4.0%, signalling a resilient workforce despite economic pressures.Vacancies fell for the 27th consecutive period to 841,000, but still sat above pre-pandemic levels, indicating continued demand for talent. Economic inactivity among 16–64-year-olds declined to 21.8%, expanding the available talent pool and supporting recovery efforts.
For Astute’s sectors, this translated into ongoing demand for roles such as Solar Project Managers and Wind Turbine Technicians, alongside broader engineering positions. As Matt Dickens noted, employers were still actively hiring, creating strong opportunities for candidates prepared to move.
Engineering Skills Shortages Grow – May 2024
APSCo’s May 2024 data revealed deepening engineering skills shortages, with permanent engineering jobs down 3% month-on-month and contract roles falling 11% between March-April. Most concerning were applications: permanent engineering jobs saw a 40% month-on-month drop (23% YoY), while contract applications plunged 44%.
Ann Swain, Global CEO at APSCo, warned: “While we may be seeing a fluctuation in vacancies in engineering which is to be expected in the current economic climate, it is the falling applications that are of more concern. The sector is persistently reporting a decline in people moving roles which exceeds any decline in jobs. It’s clear that the skills gap is growing and with an uptick in salaries in Q1 failing to boost applications, all signs are pointing to a significant talent shortage in the months ahead.”
Gemma Harfield, Recruitment Partner in Astute’s Nuclear team added: “These findings align closely with what we’re seeing in the nuclear sector, where the demand for engineers remains exceptionally high. At Astute, our People Plus recruitment solution has been instrumental in helping businesses navigate engineering skills shortages.”
Latest Job Vacancy Data – January 2024
Responding to the January 2024 ONS job vacancy data, APSCo highlighted that, although vacancies had fallen 5% between July–September and October–December, job numbers remained higher than between 2005 and 2020. Questions around data quality meant the figures should not be treated as a standalone indicator, with alternative estimates suggesting marginally higher employment among 16–64-year-olds.
From an energy recruitment perspective, Matt Dickens, Director at Astute People, reported that the traditional Christmas lull had not materialised.Astute continued to take new permanent and contract roles to market across power, renewables and energy, with high demand for experienced contractors to bridge skills gaps, particularly as the UK announced plans to expand its nuclear capabilities.
Engineering Applications Halve – January 2024
APSCo’s January 2024 Broadbean data showed permanent engineering jobs down 37% and contract vacancies down 33% in December – the lowest 12-month levels. Applications fell even more dramatically: permanent applications dropped 55%, contract applications 57%.
Ann Swain commented: “While we expect to see vacancies and, subsequently job applications, decline towards the end of the year, the falls reported in engineering are concerning. The UK has battled skills shortages in the sector for some time. The first quarter of 2024 will be a telling time for the strength of engineering recruitment.”
Kevin Over, Head of Power at Astute noted: “What APSCo’s data does highlight is the growing skills gap, especially in engineering. Being able to access passive candidates is critical, especially when applications among those actively seeking a new opportunity are dropping.”
New APSCo Labour Data – December 2023
APSCo’s December 2023 update emphasised that, despite falling vacancies, jobs remained above pre-pandemic levels and that declines were concentrated in sectors already experiencing long-standing skills shortages.With employers struggling to find the right people, they were less likely to create additional roles, which in turn affected vacancy statistics.
Of the new APSCo labour data, Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), said:
“There may be lingering questions around the Labour Force Survey statistics that mean the latest figures around self-employment may need to be revised, but the data does paint a similar picture of falling vacancies in the UK.
“However, it’s important to stress that this doesn’t mean the labour market is concerned.
“If we look at the broader picture, jobs remain above pre-pandemic levels.
“When we look at sector declines, vacancies have fallen most in human health, social work, and professional, scientific, and technical activities – all areas experiencing long-standing skills shortages.
“With employers already struggling to source the required resources, they are unlikely to add more jobs, which will impact these statistics.
“This is further reflected in the number of jobs in the UK, which continued to grow in the revised data for September.
“This suggests that work is readily available nationwide, but a lack of resources impacts vacancies.
“This will only increase the demand for self-employed and specialist contractors who can often take on multiple roles simultaneously.
“It’s critical that this recognition is reflected in policy decisions in the New Year – particularly with the economic inactivity rate for those aged between 16 and 64 remaining unchanged in the latest statistics (20.9%).
“The UK needs to provide greater support and allowance to the self-employed and those that recruit them to encourage wider availability and use of these flexible resources.
“That includes revising the Apprenticeship Levy scope so that it is accessible to the self-employed to bolster the country’s skills.
“We also stand firmly by our recent calls to the Government to review business visas to help mitigate against the impact of skills shortages.”
New APSCo Labour Data: Astute’s View
Matt Dickens, Sales Director at Astute, said, “Amid the traditional year-end recruitment slowdown, our observations within the Power, Renewable, and Nuclear energy sectors, reveal a sustained surge in activity, defying seasonal norms.
“The ongoing skills shortage, particularly evident in technical recruitment, has intensified demand for specialists.
“As a result, Astute’s contract recruitment team has taken numerous opportunities to market as businesses seek to address skills gaps.
“My advice to businesses seeking talent is to act proactively, delaying your recruitment strategies due to it being the festive period risks losing top talent, something which is exacerbated by counteroffers from organisations keen to retain their best assets.
“One of the best ways to mitigate the talent shortages, whichever sector you are in, is to partner with a specialist recruitment agency that is able to offer a variety of solutions to talent challenges and, from what we are already witnessing at Astute, January 2024 will be an exceptionally busy time for recruiters.”
King’s Speech Skills Response – November 2023
Following the November 2023 King’s Speech, APSCo’s Tania Bowers called for international trade deals that facilitate skills mobility and comprehensive Apprenticeship Levy reform. She highlighted gaps in agreements like the CPTPP, which focus on goods but neglect people movement essential for skills development.
Bowers advocated incorporating recruitment into trade discussions and using Levy funds for shorter, modular training programs targeting 18–24-year-olds, career changers, and older workers – plus regional/sector-specific initiatives for hard-to-reach demographics.
Dan Don, Head of Nuclear at Astute, emphasised the nuclear sector’s acute need for flexible talent: “The nuclear industry, like many technical sectors, faces increased demands for specialists, and technical skills shortages continue to be a challenge. The ongoing skills shortages across the nuclear sector is one of the foremost reasons we have seen such exceptional demand for contractors, especially Process Engineer, EC&I Engineer, Project Manager (SC/DV cleared) professionals.”
Both stressed immediate action through flexible labour markets and international collaboration to meet nuclear energy’s growing expertise demands.
APSCo Responds to Labour Market Data – August 2023
In August 2023, APSCo’s response to ONS labour market data noted expected seasonal falls in vacancies but warned against focusing solely on percentage declines.Vacancies remained above one million, a level that had only recently become the “new normal”, even as talent shortages persisted.
APSCo stressed the importance of strengthening the UK labour market through better access to international workers, especially self-employed and contract professionals, and called out current visa restrictions as a barrier.Astute’s commentary emphasised that, despite broader dips, demand remained exceptionally high across nuclear, power and renewables, and advocated for retained recruitment campaigns to help employers stand out in a tight market.
Engineering Hiring and Skills Shortages – June 2023
APSCo’s engineering data from mid-2023 revealed that vacancy numbers grew by 7% in May compared to April, but applications fell to their lowest level in 12 months, dropping almost 30% month-on-month and 24% year-on-year.Salaries for engineering specialists rose by around 5% year-on-year as employers attempted to attract talent amid rising living costs and deepening skills gaps.
Ann Swain, Global CEO at APSCo, warned that salary inflation alone would not solve the shortage and underlined the need for better visa pathways and access to international talent.From Astute’s perspective, sustained high demand in the nuclear sector – combined with IR35 challenges, security clearance delays and limited transferability from other industries – meant experienced technical recruiters were pivotal in helping employers reach and convert scarce candidates.
IR35 Set Off Proposals – June 2023
APSCo and APSCo OutSource welcomed the UK Government’s Off-Payroll Working set off proposals but flagged several areas where further clarity was required to avoid double taxation and confusion across the supply chain. They also reiterated the need for a clear definition of a Personal Service Company (PSC), given its central role in off-payroll engagements.
APSCo’s View on IR35
Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director at APSCo, commented: “We recognize the need to introduce the Off-Payroll set off, and the proposals outlined are a step in the right direction to ensure fair taxes without inadvertently impacting deemed employers, often SME recruitment firms.
“However, this is a highly complex issue, and more clarity is needed. Under the proposals, set off processes could be delayed due to appeals made by the worker or intermediary. Misunderstandings may lead to further appeals, impacting the deemed employer.
“The non-retrospective nature of the proposals creates a two-tier system: zero tax payments for the worker before 1st April 2024, and the set off mechanism afterward. This can cause confusion across the supply chain and potential double taxation prior to implementation.
“Data transfer and transparency issues also persist. We believe a statutory obligation for information to be supplied before the start of an engagement is essential to prevent individuals from withholding information and ensure recruiters aren’t disadvantaged.”
Astute People’s Perspective
Matt Dickens, Sales Director at Astute People, said: “Improved clarity around the IR35 set off is needed and will benefit both candidates and clients alike, especially when high-caliber contractors are in exceptional demand across the sectors we recruit into.”
For contractors in the energy, engineering and technical sectors, clear IR35 rules and a robust set off mechanism are essential to avoid double taxation, ensure smooth engagement with SME recruitment firms and protect income in high-demand markets.
APSCo’s Late Payment Crackdown – November 2025
APSCo has also welcomed the Government’s consultation on tackling poor payment practices, backing proposals to improve transparency, board-level oversight and statutory limits on payment terms. These reforms are particularly relevant for SME recruitment firms and second-tier suppliers operating in energy and engineering supply chains, where cashflow is often squeezed by long client payment cycles.
Astute’s Perspective on Payment Reform
Matt Leech, Finance Director at Astute People, added:
“I am pleased to see APSCo supporting the Government’s plans to tackle late payments. For smaller businesses, regular delays in payment can create real challenges – especially when we still need to pay our own people and suppliers on time.
“Clear payment terms and stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner could make a big difference. Transparency at board level is also a welcome move because late payments aren’t just a finance issue – they affect jobs, growth, and stability. There’s still more to do around complicated approval and billing processes and ‘pay when paid’ terms, which often leave smaller suppliers carrying the risk.
“Fairer, simpler processes will help SMEs focus on what matters most: working closely with clients and growing sustainably.”
For contractors, improved payment practices should mean more predictable income, reduced financial stress and a more stable environment in which to deliver critical projects across the energy and engineering landscape.
EU Reset Deal and Talent Mobility – May 2025
APSCo has welcomed the EU Reset Deal as a positive step towards rebuilding the UK’s access to global talent, particularly younger professionals and highly skilled specialists. The agreement focuses on youth mobility, mutual recognition of professional qualifications and simplified travel, all of which could support skills growth in sectors facing acute shortages.
Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director at APSCo, highlighted the need for a stronger trade deal with the EU and emphasised that implementation must avoid creating further uncertainty for employers. Matt Dickens, Head of Professional Services at Astute, described the deal as “a positive step forward” in tackling talent shortages, stressing the importance of government working closely with recruiters and employers to ensure practical, day-to-day benefits.