UK vacancies are at their lowest level since early 2021, and employers are receiving more applications than ever. Hiring the people they need still hasn’t got any easier, and talent attraction methods built for a market short of applicants are now adding to the workload.
Our new insight report, Talent Attraction Has Changed, explains why. It draws on the CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning Report 2026, supported by Omni, alongside wider UK labour market data, sets out how talent leaders can adjust their talent attraction strategy in response.
ONS estimates put UK vacancies at 702,000 for June to August 2026, with 2.5 unemployed people for every vacancy. On paper, employers should have their pick.
The CIPD data shows a different picture. 52% of organisations report increased competition for well-qualified talent, and senior, skilled and technical roles remain the hardest to fill. At the same time, 27% made redundancies, up from 17% in 2024.
The surplus sits at the volume and entry end of the market. The scarcity sits in the specialist and senior roles that carry the most organisational risk. Most organisations can’t see that split in their own data: 46% still recruit on an ad hoc basis, replacing people as they leave, and 36% collect no workforce planning data at all.
Application volumes have grown, and most of that growth is in the wrong place. 58% of employers report more unsuitable applicants, against 33% reporting more suitable ones. The share citing an excessive number of applications to process has risen from 24% to 37% in 2 years.
Generative AI is a large part of the cause. Greenhouse analysis of more than 17 million applications across over 800 European organisations found application volumes rose by 385% between 2022 and 2025, while recruitment teams shrank by 57%. Omni’s Candidate Experience Report 2026 found that 51% of candidates have used AI to improve or tailor their CV.
Employers are responding, often without a written policy behind them. 35% now try to monitor candidate AI use, 3 in 4 of those have rejected candidates as a result. Only 15% check that the tests they use are valid, reliable and tested on diverse norm groups.
Median cost per hire has risen for the first time in several survey cycles, to £3,500 for senior managers and directors and £2,000 for other employees. The increase comes mainly from the private sector, where senior cost per hire has moved from £2,000 to £5,000.
These medians are indicative, because sample sizes are small and costs vary widely between sectors. The direction is still clear. Organisations are paying more to fill roles at the point when application volumes are at their highest, and much of that spend goes on processing people who never suitable.
Few organisations can see this in their own numbers. Only 19% measure the return on investment of their recruitment processes, and only 24% of those aware of their turnover data calculate what it costs. Our Recruitment Cost Calculator works out both figures for your organisation.
Most organisations changed something about their employer brand last year, with flexible working (31%), the work environment (28%) and career development (27%) the most common areas. Only 14% measured whether those changes worked, and just 7% acted on feedback from sites such as Glassdoor and social media.
When applications are abundant and skills are scarce, a brand with broad appeal brings in people who were never going to succeed in the role. The report makes the case for an employer brand built around the work itself: what the role demands, where those skills will be used and what good performance looks like.
That level of detail gives the right candidates a reason to apply. It also gives everyone else enough honest information to opt out early, before the talent team has to tell them so.
Only 21% of organisations use pre-application assessments and 11% use self-selection tools such as realist job previews. By comparison, 63% use some form of test later in the process, after most of the screening cost has already been incurred.
Realistic job previews have a long evidence base. Candidates who understand the pace, the pressures and the less attractive parts of a role make better decisions about whether to apply. Done well, self-selection can mean few applications, stronger shortlists, less screening time and lower early attrition.
The organisations that make progress over the next few years will be the ones that can show, with evidence, why the people entering their process are the people they need. Our full report sets out the latest CIPD findings alongside wider UK labour market data, the 7 measures that connect attraction activity to hiring outcomes, and how Omni’s talent attraction and assessment services can help.
Talent attraction is the process of engaging and hiring the right candidates to meet your organisations talent needs. A strong employer brand doesn’t just help you hire, it also plays a key role in talent retention. Omni helps by activating your Employer Brand and market perception which revs up your candidate attraction strategy through revitalised career site content, social media presence, and digital advertising. This differentiation ensures the right talent takes notice of your organisation.
Omni’s training for TA teams covers every step of the recruitment cycle, from strategic workforce planning and employer branding to candidate attraction, inclusive selection, and onboarding. We’ll work with you to design exactly which aspects you need to support your organisation. This approach ensures we help equip your TA teams with the tools to attract, source, select, and retain the best-fit and most diverse candidates. The training also emphasises compliance with employment legislation and promotes diversity and inclusion, supporting business growth and reducing recruitment costs.
Our Talent Strategy team is dedicated to optimising your resourcing effectiveness. We provide expertise focused on enhancing your recruitment strategy. A key question for every organisation is whether their leaders are equipped for leadership in the modern world of work. We support your HR and Talent Acquisition teams to achieve your organisational goals across the full lifecycle from workforce planning, recruitment tech, attraction, through to assessment and onboarding. No project or organisation is too small for us, our motivation is to make recruitment work for you. Explore our insights on recruiting for resilience to future-proof your hiring approach.
Talent assessment is the structured, evidence-based process of evaluating candidates and employees against the skills, behaviours and characteristics needed for success in a role. It uses validated methods such as psychometric testing, cognitive ability tests, structured interviews, work-sample tasks and assessment centres to predict performance more accurately than CV and interview alone. Talent assessment is used both in recruitment and for internal development.
Pre-employment screening usually refers to factual checks such as right-to-work, qualifications, references and background checks. Talent assessment is the deeper evaluation of how well a candidate matches the role on skills, behaviours, ability and fit. The two are complementary. Screening confirms a candidate is eligible to be hired. Assessment helps you predict how well they will perform once hired.
