Talent Trends Report - June 2026
The flexible hiring surge is here. So is the risk that comes with it.
Permanent hiring is softening. Contractor and interim hiring is doing the heavy lifting (and at the fastest rate in over three years). That's a rational response to an uncertain market. But it's also where exposure quietly builds: IR35, screening consistency, rate control, onboarding visibility. This month's Talent Trends Report is about what's building underneath the headline numbers and what to do about it.
What’s inside
This report is built for hiring and talent leaders in regulated and high-scrutiny environments - insurance, insurtech, fintech, financial services and beyond. Whether you manage permanent, contractor or mixed workforce hiring, the June edition gives you a practical read of the market and a framework for what to do next.
Inside the June 2026 talent trends report
The key signals from REC/KPMG May data — decoded for hiring leaders
What the shift to flexible hiring is quietly triggering inside organisations
Three real-world contractor risk scenarios — IR35, screening, rates — and how they build unnoticed
The cost of doing nothing: HMRC liability, rate drift and audit remediation in numbers
The Vermelo Contingent Workforce Maturity Model — find your stage, understand your next move
A practical 60–90 day roadmap: from reactive to controlled contractor hiring
What the latest REC/KPMG data is telling us
The latest data points to a market that's made a decision - even if employers haven't made it consciously. Permanent hiring has now contracted for 44 consecutive months. Temporary billings are growing at their fastest rate in over three years. The shift to flexible resourcing isn't a blip. It's structural.
Permanent hiring | Falling at its fastest pace in 10 months
Market uncertainty, higher NI costs, zero hours reform and the Gulf crisis are all pushing boards to pause permanent commitment. Where hiring is happening, it's selective.
Candidate supply | Rising sharply - driven by redundancies
More candidates available doesn't mean easier hiring. It means more volume, more complexity and more need for consistent screening and onboarding standards.
Temp & contract | Strongest growth since April 2023
Employers are choosing flexibility over delay. Contractors and interims are filling roles in regulatory delivery, tech, risk, data and commercial functions.
Pay | Subdued broadly - competitive in pockets
Broad salary inflation is muted. But cyber, data engineering, pricing analytics and experienced compliance leads remain genuinely competitive. Blanket pay restraint will cost you candidates in the wrong places.
Why this matters
When contractor hiring rises, the risks follow — quietly
In regulated markets and high-scrutiny environments, businesses don't stop when permanent hiring slows. The work still needs doing. So contractor and interim talent becomes the pressure valve. The problem is what tends to happen next.
IR35 decisions become inconsistent
Made ad hoc by hiring managers, undocumented, and silently creating HMRC exposure that compounds across every new engagement.
Screening standards vary by supplier or team
Right to Work, criminal record checks, sanctions screening - applied inconsistently, leaving organisations with an evidence gap they may not find until an audit.
Rates drift and spend visibility disappears
Without benchmarking and a single view of contractor spend, rates typically run 15–25% above agreed levels within 12 months. No one person approved it.
Audit readiness becomes "we'll pull it together"
Documentation scattered across inboxes, teams and suppliers. What should be a report pull becomes a 6-12 week remediation project.
Onboarding slows and good talent drops out
Inconsistent onboarding processes create delays, friction and - in a market where strong contractors have options - dropouts before day one.
How Vermelo helps
We start with where you actually are and create tailored solutions that will help you move
Most organisations we speak to know something isn't quite right with how their contractor hiring works — they just haven't had time to look at it properly. Whether that's getting IR35 governance in order, bringing consistency to pre-employment screening, standing up an MSP to control contingent spend and supplier risk, or embedding talent capacity that moves at the pace your business needs — we start with your situation and build from there.
Read the report first. Then let's talk.