Self-motivation is most-desired skill among UK employers
Self-motivation topped this month’s list of skills employers are increasingly seeking in their new hires. It is also notable that communication, analytical thinking, and being success-driven have remained on the list for several months. All of this speaks to a desire to hire workers who will push forward regardless of circumstances and make well-reasoned decisions and find creative solutions to complex problems.
Job prospects are good for those with professional qualifications
Job opportunities continue to increase for workers with professional qualifications, with almost 25% more postings for related roles in June compared to May. And jobs for those with bachelor’s degrees are also on the rise, up 18% this month and 17% year over year. Prospects for candidates with vocational certificates and A Levels were also up this month, but opportunities are still well below where they were last June.
Methodology
Market IQ collects job postings daily from over 5 million websites across the U.K. Our system automatically identifies, extracts, and structures job data into 100+ attributes using Textkernel’s AI powered parsing technology. Each posting is normalised against professional taxonomies, enriched with company information, and deduplicated using sophisticated algorithms to identify unique job opportunities. The system maintains high levels of accuracy through automated quality controls and continuous improvement processes, making it a trusted source for U.K. labour market insights.
Skills
Market IQ utilizes Textkernel’s proprietary Skills Normalisation Taxonomy (SNT) to extract and normalise skills from job postings. Our taxonomy encompasses 13,200+ unique skill concepts mapped through 250,000+ terms, covering professional skills, IT skills, soft skills, and languages. Using advanced machine learning, the system identifies skills in context, disambiguates ambiguous terms, and normalises them to standardised concepts—enabling accurate cross-market analysis regardless of how employers phrase skill requirements. The taxonomy is continuously updated quarterly based on millions of job postings, market feedback, and labour market trends. This data-driven approach ensures Market IQ captures both established and emerging skills as they appear in the U.K. job market, providing unparalleled insights into skill demand across industries and regions. All analysis of skills excludes any skills that appear in fewer than 10,000 job descriptions.
