Now's actually a good time to move: what September's jobs data means for you
Every person we speak to who's weighing up a move asks some version of the same question: is now actually a good time, or should I wait a bit longer? For the first time in a long while, the honest answer is yes.
The data just landed to back that up. Permanent staff placements across the UK rose in August 2026 for the first time since September 2022 — nearly four years of decline, over. Not a boom. A genuine turn.
What actually changed in August
KPMG and the REC's monthly Report on Jobs, published in September, put the UK's Permanent Placements Index at 50.5 — its third consecutive month above the low of 44.1 it hit back in May. Starting salaries for permanent staff rose at their sharpest rate since January. Candidate availability rose too, at its fastest pace in three months, so it isn't a one-sided market — but the direction, after years of one-way traffic, has genuinely changed.
KPMG UK chief executive Jon Holt summed it up simply: "Confidence is beginning to return to the market. Businesses have learned to adapt to constant global uncertainty."
The West Midlands is part of that story this time
Last month we wrote about the West Midlands lagging behind the national jobs picture — permanent placements had ticked up locally, but regional demand was still falling, and the broader turn hadn't reached this region the way the headlines suggested. That was the July data.
The August figures tell a different story. Permanent placements rose in the Midlands this time, alongside London — while they actually fell in the South and North of England. That's not the Midlands quietly catching up months later. That's the Midlands leading, for once, rather than trailing.
Why this specifically matters if you're in transactional finance
Sector detail in the same report matters even more here: permanent vacancies rose in the Accounting/Financial sector in August, one of only a couple of sectors moving in that direction while retail and hospitality kept shrinking. That's not general economic optimism filtering down eventually. That's demand for exactly the kind of role we place, right now.
If you've been sitting on the fence
Wherever you sit across transactional finance — Credit Controller, Payroll, Accounts Assistant or anywhere else — and you've been putting off finding out what's actually out there, that's a straightforward conversation to have with us — no waffle, no pressure, just what your options genuinely look like right now.
FAQs
Is now really a good time to look for a new transactional finance role in the West Midlands?
Better than it's been in nearly four years, on the national data, and the August regional figures show the Midlands moving with that trend rather than lagging behind it, which wasn't true as recently as July. It's not a one-sided candidate's market — supply is rising too — but it's a genuinely better moment to test it than it has been for a long time.
Does this mean salaries are going up?
Starting salaries for permanent staff rose nationally at their sharpest rate since January, and it's a real signal worth knowing about — though not a guarantee for every role or every business.
What if I'd rather wait and see if this holds?
That's a fair instinct — one month of data is one month of data, which is exactly why we track the Report on Jobs monthly rather than reacting to a single release. But three consecutive months of the Placements Index rising, plus permanent vacancies rising specifically in Accounting/Financial, is a more meaningful signal than any single number on its own.