Demand for AI, tech experts pushes UK financial sector vacancies up 12%, recruiter says

Demand for workers in AI, regulation, data reporting and other specialist skills drove vacancies in Britain’s financial sector up 12 per cent in 2025, recruiting firm Morgan McKinley said on Monday, as companies sought to keep up in a technology arms race.

The year-on-year increase happened despite a slowdown in the fourth quarter, as volatility in global markets and uncertainty about the government’s November budget prompted caution in hiring managers, Morgan McKinley’s London Employment Monitor, a quarterly survey of financial services vacancies, showed.

Software and computer services now account for over 16 per cent of vacancies, above traditional roles such as investment management and banking which accounted for 15 per cent of total vacancies each last year, Mark Astbury, director at Morgan McKinley, said.

Clerical and administrative positions fell 16 per cent, and broking roles fell 20 per cent over the year, as AI and automation of services reduced the demand for staff in these functions, the data showed.

The robust hiring should continue into the first quarter of this year, Astbury said, as unemployment remained relatively low at 5 per cent and inflation stable at 3.2 per cent.