The great stay why UK jobseekers are refusing to move in 2025

The UK labour market has undergone a dramatic shift as economic uncertainty, artificial intelligence anxieties and heightened employment costs converge. The result is a sharp slowdown in job moves across the country—a trend now described as “the great stay”. Employees, wary of losing their positions amidst rounds of lay-offs, are choosing job security over new opportunities in numbers not seen for years.

Data reveals this change starkly: the number of job moves fell to 709000 between April and June 2025, a significant drop from the 1.1 million switches recorded at the peak of the great resignation in late 2021. During the earlier period, UK jobseekers benefited from a tight labour market and employers competed vigorously for staff, spurring wage growth and job mobility. The current environment is markedly more cautious as the number of vacancies declines rapidly.

Vacancies, which topped 1.3 million in May 2022, have now slumped to only 728000 by August 2025. This decline means more unemployed individuals are now chasing each role, with the ratio climbing to 2.3 jobseekers per vacancy by June 2025. The shifting dynamic has resulted in increased competition and diminished incentives to switch jobs, leading many employees to stay rooted in their current positions despite any workplace dissatisfaction.

A major trigger for this slowdown has been the rise in employment costs. Chancellor Rachel Reeves implemented an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions from 13.8 percent to 15 percent as part of the autumn Budget, costing UK businesses £25 billion. The ensuing pressure on company finances has led to hiring freezes and role reductions, cooling the already subdued jobs market. Employers now exercise a “wait-and-see” approach as economic growth stutters.

This cautious economic climate has altered the outlook for pay rises. During the great resignation, the private sector saw weekly earnings leap by 8.4 percent in just three months as employers jostled for talent. By July 2025, wage growth had slowed notably to 4.7 percent, and most of that is now driven by pay improvements for those staying put, not by bargaining power of job movers. Candidates considering a switch are finding little financial incentive to do so.

Job security concerns are also mounting as the unemployment rate edges higher. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show unemployment at 4.7 percent for July 2025, with the Bank of England projecting a rise to 4.9 percent by the third quarter of 2026. Fears—particularly among younger workers—that automation could reduce opportunities have further curtailed the willingness to seek new roles. University leavers are encountering one of the most challenging jobs markets in years, and applications for entry-level opportunities have plummeted accordingly.

Against this background, businesses are refocusing efforts on retaining existing staff, identifying and supporting those with critical skills. As the cycle of low mobility and stagnant hiring persists, the “great stay” appears set to define the UK workplace for the foreseeable future, locking in workers who might otherwise have sought out new challenges. With cost-of-living pressures persisting, many find reassurance in the stability, benefits and accrued rights of staying put, even if ambition or discontent simmers beneath the surface.