The UK is in the midst of economic slowdown, and it’s hitting employers and workers, according to the Independent.

Where in the world? The UK job market has been unstable since October 2024, and employers are struggling. Just 11% of UK employers plan to hire before the end of the year, the sharpest recruitment decline in the world, according to a new report from ManpowerGroup.

“The UK economy has stalled and with it so has hiring,” Petra Tagg, workforce solutions director at ManpowerGroup, told People Management. “The labour market has been moving at an almost glacial pace for months and, while there remains some movement in roles for the highly skilled, we’re very far off the 30 percent hiring outlooks we saw in early 2022.”

Businesses in the UK have to decide if they want to invest in new workers or AI and automation, according to Tagg, and are looking to reduce costs and use “flexible hiring arrangements” to adapt to the new economic reality………..