Worst drop in UK editorial recruitment since the pandemic

31 of the UK’s biggest media recruiters significantly reduced the number of editorial job adverts posted in 2023 compared with the previous year.

Data compiled by the Journalism.co.uk team shows that recruitment adverts from companies like BBC, NewsUK, Telegraph Media Group or Financial Times fell by around one third.

The sharpest year-on-year fall was seen at Thomson Reuters and National World (both 74 per cent), Condé Nast (64 per cent) and Newsweek (65 per cent).

Read more: How has the pandemic changed media recruitment?

Not a single recruiter in our sample increased the number of job ads they posted in 2023.

Only two companies maintained the same level of job advertising - DMGT (publisher of The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro, News Scientist and i) which published 341 ads, and DC Thomson with 46 ads.

DMGT was also the biggest recruiter in our sample, followed by BBC (336 job ads), Future (303 ads) and NewsUK (244 ads). You can take a look at all of the data here.

Although these numbers are not all-encompassing and not all job adverts result in hires, they are a good indicator of publishers’ optimism and attempts to grow their businesses.

"Last year's drop in editorial recruitment figures approaches the downturn experienced during the pandemic in its severity," says John Thompson, director at Journalism.co.uk.

"Whether that is an adjustment to an overly optimistic recruitment drive as we emerged from the covid chaos, or represents a general bearish mood in the industry, remains to be seen.

"But a combination of low salaries and fewer opportunities can only lead to young talent looking elsewhere for careers and could cost an industry that desperately needs to continue to innovate dearly in the long term."

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