GeraJobs / UK Job Vacancies by Sector
UK Job Vacancies by Sector
The UK had 707,000 unfilled job vacancies in March to May 2026 — down 4.2% on a year earlier. Every figure below is real ONS Vacancy Survey (VACS02) data, ranked by sector and scored with the Gera Vacancy Index.
How many job vacancies are there in the UK, and which sectors have the most?
As of March to May 2026 (ONS VACS02, released 18 June 2026), the UK had 707,000 unfilled job vacancies — down 4.2% on a year earlier. Human health & social work activities has the most, with 124,000 vacancies. By the Gera Vacancy Index, Financial & insurance is the tightest sector at 136 (UK = 100). GeraJobs re-dates this monthly.
Gera Vacancy Index
Tightest UK sector: Financial & insurance activities at 136 (UK = 100) — 3 vacancies per 100 employee jobs vs the UK's 2.2.
How this is calculatedUK vacancies by sector — March to May 2026
| Sector | Vacancies | Per 100 jobs | Gera Vacancy Index | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human health & social work activities | 124,000 | 2.7 | 123 | -6.8% |
| Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles | 86,000 | 2 | 91 | -12.2% |
| Accommodation & food service activities | 69,000 | 2.8 | 127 | -12.7% |
| Professional, scientific & technical activities | 67,000 | 2.2 | 100 | -9.5% |
| Administrative & support service activities | 52,000 | 2 | 91 | +6.1% |
| Manufacturing | 50,000 | 2.1 | 95 | +2% |
| Education | 48,000 | 1.7 | 77 | +9.1% |
| Information & communication | 40,000 | 2.8 | 127 | +14.3% |
| Construction | 33,000 | 2 | 91 | 0% |
| Transport & storage | 33,000 | 2 | 91 | +3.1% |
| Financial & insurance activities | 32,000 | 3 | 136 | -3% |
| Public admin & defence; compulsory social security | 28,000 | 1.8 | 82 | 0% |
| Other service activities | 14,000 | 2.2 | 100 | +27.3% |
| Arts, entertainment & recreation | 12,000 | 1.5 | 68 | -25% |
| Real estate activities | 10,000 | 1.5 | 68 | -28.6% |
| Water supply, sewerage, waste & remediation | 7,000 | 2.9 | 132 | 0% |
| Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply | 3,000 | 2.4 | 109 | -25% |
| Mining & quarrying | 1,000 | 2.5 | 114 | 0% |
| All sectors (UK) | 707,000 | 2.2 | 100 | -4.2% |
Vacancies in thousands rounded by ONS; the all-sector total is the official published figure (ONS AP2Y), not a re-sum of the rounded sector rows. Seasonally adjusted, March to May 2026.
Vacancy Pulse — check any UK sector
Pick a sector to see its real ONS vacancy count, vacancy intensity, and the Gera Vacancy Index versus the whole UK economy.
Unfilled vacancies
124,000
Per 100 employee jobs
2.7
Gera Vacancy Index
123
Human health & social work activities has 2.7 vacancies per 100 employee jobs, versus 2.2 for the whole UK — a Gera Vacancy Index of 123 (UK = 100), so a tighter, harder-to-hire market than the UK average. Vacancies are down 6.8% year-on-year.
Hiring in Health & social work? Post a vacancy on GeraJobsHow the Gera Vacancy Index is calculated
ONS publishes a “vacancies per 100 employee jobs” ratio for each sector and for the whole UK economy — an honest measure of how tight a sector’s labour market is, because it already normalises vacancies by the number of jobs in the sector. The Gera Vacancy Index re-bases that ratio so the UK economy = 100:
Gera Vacancy Index = round( sector ratio ÷ 2.2 × 100 )
A value above 100 means a tighter market (more unfilled vacancies per 100 jobs, harder to hire) than the UK average; below 100 means looser. The index is unitless, so a small sector (e.g. Mining & quarrying, 1,000 vacancies) can be compared with a huge one (Health & social work, 124,000) on the same tightness scale. Every input is a real published ONS VACS02 figure (Mar–May 2026); nothing is modelled or interpolated.
UK job vacancies — FAQ
- How many job vacancies are there in the UK right now?
- There were 707,000 unfilled job vacancies across the UK in March to May 2026, according to the ONS Vacancy Survey (VACS02), a fall of 31,000 (4.2%) on the same period a year earlier. The economy-wide ratio was 2.2 vacancies per 100 employee jobs. These are real, seasonally adjusted ONS estimates published 18 June 2026.
- Which UK sector has the most job vacancies?
- Human health & social work activities has the most unfilled vacancies of any UK sector — 124,000 in March to May 2026 — followed by Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (86,000) and Accommodation & food service activities (69,000). Figures are real ONS VACS02 estimates, seasonally adjusted.
- What is the Gera Vacancy Index?
- The Gera Vacancy Index is computed by GeraJobs from the real ONS "vacancies per 100 employee jobs" ratio for each sector, re-based so the UK economy = 100. A value above 100 means the sector has a tighter labour market (more unfilled vacancies per 100 jobs) than the UK average; below 100 means looser. The tightest sector is Financial & insurance at 136. The full method is published on this page — no figure is modelled.
- Is this UK vacancy data real and official?
- Yes. Every figure is a real published ONS estimate from the Vacancy Survey (dataset VACS02, released 18 June 2026), seasonally adjusted, for March to May 2026, under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The Gera Vacancy Index is a transparent ratio of the published per-100-jobs figures that you can reproduce from the same ONS tables.
Explore vacancies by sector
- Human health & social work activities124,000
- Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles86,000
- Accommodation & food service activities69,000
- Professional, scientific & technical activities67,000
- Administrative & support service activities52,000
- Manufacturing50,000
- Education48,000
- Information & communication40,000
- Construction33,000
- Transport & storage33,000
- Financial & insurance activities32,000
- Public admin & defence; compulsory social security28,000
- Other service activities14,000
- Arts, entertainment & recreation12,000
- Real estate activities10,000
- Water supply, sewerage, waste & remediation7,000
- Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply3,000
- Mining & quarrying1,000
Get the Gera Vacancy Index when ONS refreshes VACS02
The ONS Vacancy Survey updates monthly. Save your email and we'll send the refreshed sector vacancy figures and Gera Vacancy Index when ONS publishes new data.
Related on GeraJobs
- Gera Pay Index — UK salary by region — how pay varies across the UK, from real ONS ASHE data.
- Post a job on GeraJobs — reach candidates in the sectors hiring now.
- Browse jobs by sector — live roles across every industry.
Source: ONS Vacancies and jobs in the UK — Vacancies by industry (VACS02). Figures are March to May 2026, seasonally adjusted, 3-month rolling, released 18 June 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3). The Gera Vacancy Index is computed by GeraJobs from these figures; no figure is modelled or interpolated.