The Current Landscape Of Permanent IT Recruitment: May 2025

Since my last permanent IT recruitment market update in November last year, there have been some interesting new developments that are slowly shaping and changing the current market.

The past few years have been a rollercoaster for many within the industry, between the hiring lows of the pandemic, the highs of 2021/2 and a free fall drop in 2023. For a good number of IT professionals this is the only market they have experienced and the decline of 2023-4 and the slow growth since then has made their entry into IT careers a very tricky experience.

The good news is that we are seeing a bounce back in the market – at least to some extent – with more opportunities for permanent IT workers as organisations pick up projects that have been delayed for a long time and begin to look ahead to the future.

Trends affecting the permanent IT recruitment market

Market beginning to improve

In 2025, we are starting to see positive steps towards a better hiring market. Many of our clients have told us that they are planning to or are already in the process of starting up their planned projects once again. Some of these projects have been delayed for years as companies tried to wait out the poor economy, however, many of them cannot wait any longer. The consequences of not replacing an old or legacy system can be very serious. For example, recent news reported a fire at Heathrow could have been caused by an outdated system.

From what we have seen, some industries are experiencing more demand and growth than others. In particular we have found the public sector and healthcare appear to be investing more in tech, alongside larger businesses in the energy and technology sector.

In general, we have noticed across all industries, clients are very cautious at the moment around certain aspects of the hiring process, and often roles/ details around salary/ exact compensation are requiring multiple levels of approval and sign off. This means that the time to hire is taking longer on average than before, as hiring managers are less likely to have final sign off.

Legal changes

The effects of the unexpected rise of Employer’s National Insurance and planned changes to ‘Day One’ employment rights (specifically around unfair dismissal) have made a profound impact on the permanent IT recruitment market.

We have seen businesses shifting to Fixed Term Contracts, in the face of increasing costs and employment rights. Certain parts of these legislative changes, particularly, unfair dismissal becoming a ‘Day One’ right, can make organisations more hesitant to hire permanent employees. A fixed term contract makes it easier for a company to exit an employee by not renewing their contract, rather than starting an official disciplinary process.

An increase in fixed term contracts is often indicative of a client led market, as they do tend to favour the end user’s interests over the worker. They do not offer a permanent worker the job security they are looking for in a permanent role and they don’t contain the financial benefits of a contract placement.

AI generated CVs increasing

A significant change we have seen becoming more prevalent since our last market update is the number of candidates using AI to apply for jobs. This shortcut has been present for some time, but we are finding it is notably more common this year then it used to be.

We understand that in a very difficult market for candidates where they face high competition for a smaller pool of jobs, some are tempted to find ways to increase their chances of an interview. However, what we have seen take place is that a small but growing number of candidates will use AI to overexaggerate their skills and lie about their experiences. Whilst lying on CVs has always happened, AI tools can make these lies sound very believable. Hiring managers then progress these candidates to the interview stage and the average time to hire suffers.

In order to combat this increase in AI generated applications, we have implemented detailed screening calls into our processes with candidates so that we can separate fact and fiction. This way we reduce the chances of our clients interviewing unsuitable candidates or making poor hiring decisions.

Return to the office mandates

Since our last update, we have seen a continuation in some organisations encouraging a return to onsite working. Despite widespread fears that enforcing employees returning to the office full time would create an employee exodus, many of our clients we have worked with during their transition back to office working have not seen a significant drop in the months or year after. Although some organisations are voicing caution over how this move might affect their employee morale.

Overall, we have seen varied approaches from businesses who have tried to implement this. Some organisations have decided to enforce a strict 5 day office return, while others are looking to increase hybrid working by adding incentives to entice employees into the office. I’ve seen organisations try ‘team office days’, free breakfasts, lunches, modern office amenities and more.

Either way, it is clear that employees who were resistant to returning to the office are less likely to quit as many feared and most businesses are managing a successful return to full time onsite working.

Significant candidate availability

In the past few years, we have seen a vast rise in the number of candidates actively looking for work. As profits have dipped and budgets have tightened, organisations have been exploring redundancies, restructuring departments and looking for other ways to make their workforces leaner. As a result, candidate availability has risen at its fastest pace in over 4 years. This has meant that in the permanent IT recruitment market; we are receiving high levels of applicants for every role. This is particularly prominent with generalist roles, where we have seen applications reach into the thousands per role in some cases.

We have started working with a few organisations that have previously always handled their recruitment internally. However, due to the overwhelming number of candidates they are receiving for roles, they have needed to outsource to our team for additional support. For example, in many roles, we are actively shortlisting 500-odd candidates to just 5. This is not something many businesses have the capacity, the time or the resources to do themselves, without having an impact either on their operations or on candidate experience.

Contractors open to permanent opportunities

Another development we have seen recently is the number of contractors who are considering permanent roles. These tend to be contractors who have been without work for a while, and the job security of a permanent role is seeming more attractive.

However, I would extend caution to businesses who are hiring ex-contractors, as many may return to contracting when the market picks up again. A great recruiter will be able to get a solid understanding of the individual’s goals to see how committed they are to a permanent position and advise the manager on whether they would be suitable or not.

Data and AI skills rising

The two top tech skills we are seeing most in-demand are within Data and AI. I have seen a particularly big spike in vacancies for data experts.

It is clear that businesses are exploring the benefits of AI and want to invest in this tech that can help them automate their tasks and create efficiencies, and with this often companies need great data professionals to leverage the data that they have.

Reduction in talent acquisition teams

In my conversations with organisations, many have engaged recruitment agencies because they have had to reduce their internal talent acquisition teams. Whilst some might think that hiring tasks can be pushed onto hiring managers or admin staff, doing so can negatively affect an employer brand. Although aspects of candidate experience such as regular communication with candidates to offer feedback and support, may not seem like it has a high return on investment, a bad candidate experience can impact an organisation’s ability to hire in the future. This is where a recruitment agency, such as VIQU IT, can come in to assist a smaller internal talent team to ensure that processes and experiences are not negatively impacted by a reduction in their dedicated hiring team.

If you are looking to hire an IT professional, or learn more about the permanent IT recruitment market, VIQU IT is an award-winning IT specialist recruitment agency. Get in touch with our team here for more information.